Cooke School Gala Invitation Design and Event Branding
PROJECT OVERVIEW
Cooke School and Institute is a private school located in New York City educating students with diverse developmental disabilities and backgrounds, from early childhood through young adulthood. The school envisions a world in which all people with disabilities are included as valued members of their communities, leading independent and purposeful lives.
For the second year in a row, Trillion was chosen to help the school brand its annual Food for Thought gala which took place at The Lighthouse at Chelsea Piers in New York City. The special evening featured a strolling supper menu created by more than 20 of New York City’s most celebrated chefs.
For the gala design, the client came to us with a vision already in mind; they realized a lot of community members were not aware of Cooke’s history. Using the butterfly concept, the client wanted to highlight Cooke’s transformation from their beginning as a single, small classroom to a full-fledged institute and school with an enrollment of over 300 students.
Like the previous year, they wanted an eye-catching mailer that utilized die-cuts. To use their butterfly concept and capture the fun and sophistication of the gala, we designed an intricately cut gatefold of two wings that enclose the invitation, closing at the butterfly’s body. We used elegant and ornate lines in the butterfly design that mimicked the elegant serif typography. We continued to use the blues and greens from the Cooke School palette to retain brand equity.
The venue was the same, so we were able to utilize large-scale window clings again, this time with student drawings of butterflies filling the space. We also created signage identifying the chefs and their restaurants, tabletop centerpieces, posters, main stage backgrounds, and step and repeat backgrounds where guests were photographed in front of.
RESULTS
The event was sold out for the second year in a row, and Cooke exceeded their fundraising goal by $150,000. The invitation was widely praised, with many attendees saying it was the most beautiful invite they received all year.
