Durham Academy
Compass - College Counseling Journal
Challenge
The Durham Academy College Counseling team needed a journal to help students navigate the college application process. The journal would guide students through steps of self-discovery, light the pathway for post-graduation, and walk students through the journey of preparing for college and career.
Process
Through conversations with the College Counseling team, we came up with the idea of this journal having an adventure/journey theme. This journal is called the Compass. Just like a navigational compass points out cardinal directions, this book helps students articulate their values, their passions, and their dreams — their cardinal directions. Similar to how a navigational compass doesn't tell you which direction to go — it isn't a GPS — this journal doesn't tell students what to do after graduation. In the end, the students have to take the information they have gathered and be the ones to take each step. I took the prompts that the College Counseling team wanted to include, as well as their application tips and advice, into Adobe Indesign. I organized them by similar purpose and direction, added themed section headers and brought in custom sketches and "sticker" graphics (created in Adobe Illustrator) to bring this bullet journal to life.
Result
The College Counseling team was so thrilled by the first iteration of the journal – designed specifically for their 10th grade curriculum — that they immediately requested an additional section of the booklet geared towards their 11th grade curriculum. Upon seeing the final design concept, the College Counseling team decided that — instead of just giving each student access to a pdf of the booklet — in future years they would budget for printing and binding of the booklet to be able to give each student the journal to assist in navigating the post-graduation process.