Paths To Independence
An Essential
Community Good
Paths to Independence is the largest school exclusively serving children with autism. Located in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, PTI acquired an elementary school that was vacated when Bartlesville Public Schools redistricted. The building was put to immediate use but was in terrible need of updates and repairs.
the Desired Outcome:
Raise $15 million dollars to make much needed repairs to the existing building and build on necessary additions to increase capacity.
Setting The Stage
To represent the campaign, we wanted to give it a double meaning. We wanted to have the kids represented visually in the logo and show them as champions. But we also wanted to make an appeal to the donors, asking them to “champion” the cause of these kids who need their help.
telling A Story
To educate the donors on the campaign we wanted to tell the story in a different way. So, we made a storybook called Keifers story, based on the first boy to attend PTI and for whom it was created. We proposed the idea to Kent and PTI, not realizing that Jean, our contact at PTI, was actually Kiefer's mom.
She loved the idea, and we began researching art styles and creating characters. We worked out the narrative to tell the Kiefer's story while educating the viewer about the autism spectrum and how PTI helps.
After creating and drawing the characters and scenes, we had to colorize the drawings. We wanted to pick mediums that would compliment the storybook style and have that childlike flair. We picked a mixture of oil pastels and watercolor.
All of the scenes were colorized and meticulously finished to look exactly like a children's book. After they were finished, they were scanned and exported for use in our storybook campaign brochure.
Then we began the process of bringing the drawings in and adding content.
the Outcome
The idea was an overwhelming success. Paths To Independence raised over their goal and has updated and made repairs to the existing building and is well into the process for making additions to increase enrollment. PTI is one of only 2 schools in Oklahoma that serve only autistic kids. The ability to increase enrollment will be the catalyst for many kids in Oklahoma and surrounding areas to have a better future.
