Grossman Develops Family Strengths Activity Booklet for Family & Children's Service

Kid-compatible design and content bridge gaps to reach families in need

(Minneapolis, MN) Grossman Design Associates is pleased to announce publication of the Sharing Family Strengths Activity Booklet, provided by Family & Children's Service to families and the practitioners and organizations that support them. Grossman Design was asked by Family & Children's Service, a 130+ year-old private social service agency, for a strategy to increase engagement with the powerful findings of its Minnesota Family Strength Project Research, which identifies nine landmarks for family strength based on interviews with over 2,000 families.

"The idea was to reach parents through kids," says Eric Hayward, who led the Grossman Design project team as creative director. "We thought, if kids did the coloring, word search and other activities, they'd not only stumble across information they might communicate back to their families, but the booklet would be around the house for parents to pick up."

Once parents do flip through the booklet, then its readable, editorial style --- written in the voice of other parents, supported by appealing visuals, and also available in a Spanish version --- makes it more likely the message of the nine strengths can cut through the clutter of many demands for parents' attention.

In addition to creating new coloring, word search, and other activities, Grossman worked with experienced program staff at Family & Children's Service to identify the activities they've found most effective in working with families. These, as well as edited descriptions of the landmark strengths, are presented in a design with a cross-generational appeal.

"Like it or not, adoption of video games cuts across generations. We subtly evoked a 'Nintendo' kind of look with the character illustrations we included, putting these against the types of patterned backgrounds you're seeing in everything from web sites to blogs and ads. You don't want to alienate older kids," Hayward said.

The nine strengths identified in the booklet include Communication, Health, Time together, Spirituality, Support, Respect, Unity, Cultural traditions, and Extended sense of family. Families, agencies, and therapeutic professionals can download the booklet at http://sharingfamilystrengths.org/.

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For fifty years, Grossman Design (http://grossmandesign.com/) has created imaginative visual communications programs to fulfill our clients’ marketing goals. As a design firm with a marketing approach, we provide our clients with an enhanced ability to differentiate themselves from their competition and deliver a clear message that gets results.

Family & Children's Service has given help and hope to more than one million people in the Minneapolis-St. Paul region since 1878. The organization provides a unique combination of mental health services and innovative services aimed at building strong families, vital communities and capable children. To learn more, visit their website at http://www.everyfamilymatters.org/.