I am ETFO
Strengthening solidarity through design.
A campaign designed to help 84,000 educators feel like they are part of something bigger.
I Am ETFO was created to strengthen the community, spark curiosity about the union, and remind members of their collective power. What started as a campaign idea evolved into a widely adopted welcome kit across the organization.
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Client: Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario
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Department: Communications & Political Action
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Role: Campaign & Publication Designer
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Scope: Identity System, Print, Merchandise, Campaign Extension
The Brief
Make people care.
The campaign needed to:
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Strengthen the sense of community
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Increase awareness about the union
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Make members curious enough to ask questions
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Reinforce the idea that there is power in numbers
Simple in words. Not so simple in execution.
Constraints
This project came with real-world boundaries:
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Politically diplomatic. No strong bias, no alienation
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Designed for 84,000 members. It had to feel inclusive
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Easy to understand at a glance
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Stay within ETFO’s existing brand system
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Fit within budget
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Include physical materials. Teachers still love print
Every decision had to balance clarity, sensitivity, and scale.
Early Exploration
We explored multiple directions before landing on the final approach.
Some ideas focused on interaction:
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Fill this out and send it back
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Social media driven engagement
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One-time campaign activations
They were interesting. Also short-lived.
The challenge was not just engagement. It was lasting connection.
The Shift
The question became:
What stays with someone after the campaign ends?
That’s where the idea of a welcome kit came in.
It was not part of the original plan. It emerged during testing in one of ETFO’s programs.
People kept the materials. Shared them.
Talked about them.
That was the signal.
The campaign moved from momentary interaction to something people could hold on to.
The Idea
I AM ETFO
Not a slogan. A statement.
The union is not an external body.
The members are the union.
This simple shift turned information into identity.
Visual System
The campaign visual language was developed as a subset of ETFO’s existing brand guidelines, ensuring consistency while giving the initiative a distinct presence.
The system builds on the organization’s primary typography and colour palette, using bold scale and confident compositions to emphasize the campaign message.
A script typeface was introduced as an accent element, adding moments of warmth and human connection. The contrast between the structured sans-serif and expressive script reinforces the idea of an established institution powered by the voices of its members.
Together, these elements create a visual system that remains aligned with the ETFO brand while giving the campaign its own recognizable character.
Members wearing the campaign pins at union meetings and events.
Campaign Kit
These materials form a welcome kit distributed to members during their first five years in the profession.
The kit introduces the union’s role, resources, and advocacy work while reinforcing the message of collective identity.
Deliverables
Resource List
Welcome Guide
Local Information Postcard
Campaign merchandise
Other materials
In the Wild
This is where it got interesting.
Members started wearing the pins, bringing the tote bags to events. Recognizing each other.
The campaign stopped being something we made.
It became something they owned.
Campaign Extension
As the province approached a potential early election, the campaign evolved into
I / WE VOTE.
The extension retained the visual system while shifting the message from identity to civic participation.
This allowed the campaign to move from belonging to action while maintaining visual continuity.
IMPACT
Sometimes the goal is not to design something new.
It’s to make people see what was already theirs.
Impact
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Rolled out across the province
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Adopted as part of multiple programs
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Became a standard welcome kit for new members
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Created visible symbols of belonging
What started as a campaign became a system.