Overview

Client: Outlier.org

Ask: Create informational gfx assets for the lessons of Outlier’s upcoming Introduction to Sociology Course.

My Role: Graphic Designer

Context

Outlier.org is a rapidly-growing EdTech startup, providing online college-level courses in prerequisite subjects for $400/course with offering transferable college credits. Their goal is to make education more affordable, accessible, and tailored to individual student learning styles. The Outlier team was in development of their Introduction to Sociology course, and needed visual assets for all of the 13 chapters. These graphics would appear onscreen, working in tandem with instructor lecture footage to consolidate and clarify concepts of study. They needed a large number of graphics, each individually adapted to the lecture and balanced alongside instructor video.

Scope

The project deliverable required hundreds of individual visual assets crafted through Illustrator and Photoshop. The placement of each file needed to be tailored to the exact timestamp in footage wherein it would be placed. The project needed to be completed within 3.5 months, starting in October 2021 and ending in January 2022.

Rationale

I began by studying the graphics present in other Outlier courses. Each visual style of a given course had to be tailored to that subject—For example, visuals for a Stats course would look very different from those from a course on College Writing. However, I identified some key characteristics shared across the board. Some of my observations for other course style similarities involved: widespread use of Sans Serif typefaces, minimal framing on images, prominent use of bold vs. regular weight text to simply establish hierarchy, a limited color palette for consistency, and transparent fills to ease the otherwise jarringly stark contrast between colors and the dark background. I took each of these observations, and constructed visual styles for the Sociology course around them.

I found myself moving through multiple iterations of a given visual asset. Each time one was created, I worked with fellow editors, producers, and content specialists to judge its effectiveness in the rough cuts of footage. There were many variables to consider, such as judging whether a visual takes up an appropriate amount of space onscreen, or determining whether there is accurate alignment between base content, the instructor’s explanation, and the created visual. Altogether, the process was intensive and harmonious, and I developed a continuous routine of editing and reviewing each visual multiple times. This meticulous review was essential to ensure that the visuals were both clear to students and faithful to the lesson content.

Impact

After a busy three months of many files, folders, and Slack messages, the visual assets were completed. Each visual was tailored to the exact timestamp of footage for which it referred. They all adhered to similar design guidelines and were crafted within a similar set of defined templates. The visual spoke for themselves, while supporting the professor’s lecture. The efficient pacing of visual creation, combined with the meticulous attention to detail and course context, contributed vastly to keeping this Outlier course both affordable and understandable for students. The Intro to Sociology course is now available on Outlier.org.