Coastal Resilience Learning Network

The Coastal Resilience Learning Network (CRLN) is an educational platform designed to enhance community resilience in coastal regions through training, simulation, and public education. This concept project involved a complete reimagining of the platform's identity, visual language, and user experience to clearly differentiate it as an educational resource rather than an official emergency service.

The Challenge

The initial concept for this platform inadvertently mimicked official emergency services in its visual language and positioning, creating potential confusion and ethical concerns. The challenge was to completely reimagine the platform as a clearly differentiated educational resource that supports legitimate emergency services through training and community engagement, rather than competing with or imitating them. The design needed to establish trust while avoiding any appearance of governmental authority.

Our Solution

We developed a comprehensive redesign strategy that established the Coastal Resilience Learning Network as an educational platform focused on community resilience. This included creating a new brand identity with a 'Knowledge Web' visual concept, implementing a warm coastal color palette distinct from emergency services, and developing a user experience centered around learning and community connection. The design system includes specialized approaches for emergency education contexts, with particular attention to cognitive processing under stress, information hierarchy across devices, and clear visual indicators of the platform's educational nature.

Our Approach

• Created a new brand identity that intrinsically communicates an educational mission through the 'Knowledge Web' visual concept and community-focused language
• Developed a distinctive color palette and typography system that intentionally breaks from emergency service visual conventions while maintaining coastal relevance
• Designed a responsive layout system with specialized considerations for how users process information under stress and across different devices
• Implemented persistent educational identifiers throughout the interface to clearly communicate the platform's non-governmental nature
• Created specialized visual systems for uncertainty communication, decision support, and emotional regulation to enhance the educational experience

Impact

This concept project demonstrates how thoughtful design can transform a potentially problematic platform into a valuable educational resource. The redesigned Coastal Resilience Learning Network establishes a clear identity as a community learning platform that complements rather than competes with official emergency services. The design system's specialized approaches to emergency education contexts, stress-considerate information design, and clear visual differentiation create a blueprint for how educational platforms can support emergency preparedness without creating confusion or ethical concerns. The project showcases the power of user-centered design to solve complex problems of identity, trust, and information presentation in sensitive contexts.