Subject creates short, delightful online high school classes that earn real credit. Worked with their in-house team and the agency Herman-Scheer to craft a sharp, nostalgic brand that would excite students and reassure teachers.
● Visual identity — 2022
About this project
What if online school was excellent?
Subject creates short, affordable, delightful online classes that earn high school and AP credits.
Felix and Michael—Title I public school alums—founded Subject with a simple premise: the quality of your education shouldn’t depend on your zipcode.
In 2020, they hand-picked experts from across the country, flew them to Los Angeles, and filmed lessons on a sound stage two miles from the Hollywood sign.
A Cambridge PhD taught Advanced Placement Physics, a published poet taught Remedial English and, in one case, NFL linebacker Brandon Copeland taught personal finance.
The formula worked. When I met Felix two years later, Subject was in seventy six US high schools and was reaching fifty thousand students. They employed forty-six teachers, writers, and producers. They’d even purchased a luxurious piece of internet real estate: subject.com
The company was growing up. It was time to look the part.
In the winter of 2022, I had the honor of working with Subject’s in-house design team and the agency Herman-Scheer to create a new visual identity that would span product, marketing, and sales. The goal was to create something fun but mature—to excite students and reassure teachers.
Our team was drawn to the paper products that fill American high schools—notebooks, flashcards, and Post-Its. Their mix of sharp corners and bright colors toed the line between rigid and playful. We wanted Subject to do the same.
A reference like this could veer corny quickly. But we thought that—with enough restraint—it could make our online platform feel tactile, nostalgic, familiar.
That idea led us to a color palette inspired by the covers of the Five Star’s iconic spiral bound notebooks.
5-Star Notebooks. Several of us grew up with these. Their memory sparked harsh debates within our team on how to best match colors and classes. I believe that science is green and math is blue, but have been persecuted for those opinions.
We also developed a system of gridlines inspired by graph paper and those Zane-Bloser writing guides from back in the day. Along the way, we noticed that a lot of this stationery is printed on newsprint, which stands out in a sea of white for its distinctive, warm shade of gray.
Zane-Bloser writing guidelines. Those colors!
We thought the newsprint gray was nostalgic and charming in the all right ways, and used it to anchor the rest of the palette. It’s my favorite of the bunch.
The typeface came last. The choice was hard and dangerous. Dark specters whispered in our ears to go with a vintage serif like Cooper, or a handwriting script like Dakota, to lean into our brand’s schoolhouse vibes.
It was easy, it was tempting. But it would have pushed the metaphor too far. Corniness loomed. We recalled our vow for restraint and selected Oracle instead—a clean, subtly playful sans serif face made by the talented people at ABC Dynamo.
I designed and animated the artefacts at the top of this page, save for the lovely photos directed and produced by by Subject’s production studio.
I’m proud of what our team made. I think it captures the company’s spirit back then. Playful yet structured, joyful yet serious—just like its credit-bearing classes.
* * *
In the months following the rebrand, Subject was featured on Fox News, saw an 8x increase in website traffic, and earned accreditation from the College Board. Felix, the CEO at the time, was named to Forbes 30 Under 30.
But growth brings change. Subject kept growing, and its appetite shifted from individual students to entire school districts. It stopped trying to charm high schoolers; the new customer was the American superintendent. The identity our team designed slowly changed to reflect the new business model. Colors faded, stickers peeled, and, today, only our logo remains from the original set.
It was a joy while it lasted. I got to work with and learn from some tremendously talented designers. One of them was my boss, Jimmy Kwon. He shared these kind words about our time together:
“Om ramped up quickly to make significant contributions to the rebranding of the company. He's an incredible storyteller, capable of synthesizing an enormous amount of information and distilling it down into compelling, concise messages.
He can take on complex design challenges and deliver elegant, visually captivating solutions. Om has a sharp eye, a creative mind, and an incredibly good heart.
Aside from all of Om's fantastic work, I will miss our deep philosophical and intellectual conversations about all things design and life. I'm excited to see all that Om will achieve in his career and beyond.”
Ashley Schraeyer
Om Gokhale
Herman Scheer Agency (Creative Direction)
PhotographySubject Brand Studio
GS Photographs
Subject
LinksABC News coverage
Subject’s Course Catalog