A global audience boost for a renowned cultural institution
THE NEW YORK BOTANICAL GARDEN
New York Botanical Garden possessed world-renowned expertise but struggled to share it beyond their physical walls. Quick pandemic pivots had created online courses that missed their global potential. Rather than simply redesigning content, we built sustainable systems that transformed how NYBG approaches digital education—creating scalable processes that continue expanding their reach worldwide.
World-class expertise, limited reach
THE CHALLENGE
The New York Botanical Garden, one of the world's most respected botanical institutions with over a million annual visitors, faced a recognition gap. While celebrated for its beautiful gardens, NYBG's groundbreaking educational programs and scientific research remained underappreciated.
The pandemic had pushed them to create online courses quickly, but these urgency-driven solutions attracted primarily older, local audiences. With ambitious digital education goals but no clear processes for course development, the team felt overwhelmed about how to scale their expertise to reach the global audience their knowledge deserved.
THE QUESTION WE ANSWERED
How do we transform NYBG's world-class botanical expertise into scalable digital education that reaches diverse, global audiences while establishing sustainable processes for future growth?
Beyond course design to capacity building
OUR APPROACH
We began with our Question Catalyst process, conducting discovery sessions to understand the gap between NYBG's internal capabilities and external recognition. Through stakeholder interviews, we uncovered that this wasn't just a course design challenge—it was about creating systems that could showcase their expertise while building organizational capacity for sustained digital education.
We treated the brand and course development as interconnected challenges, recognizing that NYBG needed both compelling content and scalable processes to achieve their vision.
A scalable brand system for digital education
THE STRATEGIC SOLUTION
We designed the visual framework and brand system for Plant Studio, NYBG's new series of online self-paced courses, creating:
Brand system development that harmonized with NYBG's design language while establishing a distinct digital education identity
Course architecture that transformed expert knowledge into accessible, engaging learning experiences
Implementation frameworks including templates, production guidelines, and processes for future course creation
Team training and documentation that equipped NYBG staff to continue development independently
The solution balanced NYBG's scientific credibility with approachable design, creating courses that felt both authoritative and welcoming to diverse learners.
From local audiences to global gardeners
THE IMPACT
Plant Studio transformed how NYBG connects with audiences worldwide. The courses now attract diverse home gardeners globally, providing access to top-tier expertise in horticulture, gardening, pruning, floral design, and landscape architecture.
Most importantly, we established sustainable systems that position NYBG for continued digital education growth. The brand framework and production processes we created serve as a foundation for future courses, ensuring their world-class botanical knowledge can reach and inspire gardeners everywhere.
The project successfully bridged NYBG's reputation gap, showcasing their educational excellence while building organizational capacity for long-term digital impact.
Work created in partnership with Crosscut Studio, a valued partner in human-centered learning experiences.