DUOLINGO

While studying at CU Boulder, I collaborated with a team to develop an advertising campaign for the Young Ones One Show competition. This included creating digital and physical advertisements, conducting consumer research, and assembling a clean-cut video presentation. Our client of choice? Duolingo, the world's most popular language-learning app. As one of the art directors and strategists, I played a pivotal role in shaping the visual identity, tone, and overall messaging of our campaign, ensuring aesthetic cohesion and strategic alignment with our core objectives.

The challenge: While Duolingo is a household name, our challenge was to reignite engagement among Gen Z and Millennial users by delivering reminders they’re eager to share with their friends. We needed to create a campaign that cuts through the noise and makes language learning feel fun, relevant, and socially engaging.

After extensive brainstorming and multiple campaign iterations, we arrived at an unexpected yet powerful insight: grandparents. Our strategy was to tap into intergenerational relationships, leveraging the natural desire of older generations to stay connected with their grandkids. This emotional connection was the foundation for our concept “DuoKin”, a new feature within Duolingo that encourages family-based language learning. By positioning language as a bridge between generations, we made Duolingo more than just an app - it became a tool for meaningful connection and storytelling across ages.

This project pushed me to think critically about audience behavior, branding consistency, and the emotional power of advertising. It was an exciting and rewarding experience that reinforced my passion for creative storytelling and strategic problem-solving.