Recess Lab

Playworks is a national non-profit with 20 years of experience working with elementary schools to create a healthy culture of play. I guided an integrated planning phase across all of their communications and marketing efforts – to help us understand how principals and teachers make decisions for their schools, and how we can use digital campaigning to reach new audiences across the country. 

I led the team that concepted and built Recess Lab, a cross-channel engagement campaign that uses a framework of discovery and experimentation to help schools rediscover the power of play.

Building on the insight that "a great recess is easy to see but hard to describe," the marquee visuals are annotated playground scenes – labeling the social skills and long-term outcomes of a healthy culture of play. By using elegant geometric shapes and a diagrammatic visual vocabulary, Recess Lab connects play to the idea of measurable impact and intentional planning, without ever removing a sense of joy or fun. 

Paid media and marketing collateral features a range of positive outcomes – from greater physical activity, to adults participating on the playground, to kids resolving conflict on their own.

The Recess Lab website is full of accessible and actionable resources for teachers and principals – games, guides, and recommendations on how better recess can address issues at elementary school. Users are encouraged to signup for an email lifecycle series, which helps them try new approaches in a structured approach. 

CREDITS

Produced by Blue State Digital for Playworks. 

Concept, naming, copywriting, and creative direction: Chris Royalty
Design: Jenna Steely & Halina Mader
UX: Sarah Papp & Daniel Kalick
Web production: Jon Jandoc & Lentie Ward
Communications strategy: Jackie Cheng & Martha Patzer
Account and project management: Katie Wiley, Kacey Read, Sabina Tarnowka, and Krys Freeman