CO-DESIGNING WHAT'S NEXT
How might we design a future where communities can co-generate what’s next?
The answer is CoLAB.
CoLAB doesn’t just teach students—it mobilizes entire ecosystems. With hubs and schools grounded in agile learning, AI collaboration, and omni-literacy, CoLAB designs with communities, not just for them. The goal is bold: transform traditional models of education into engines of community generation, unlocking new pathways of opportunity and self-realization.
Their mission: to activate next-ready communities that co-generate their own futures through a 4DQ learning matrix grounded in Inquiry, Creativity, Design Thinking, and Service.
What excited us most was CoLAB’s belief that everyone—young people, educators, community members—can become co-creators of knowledge, innovation, and change. Their approach reframes learning as an active, generative process so that each and every participant gets to use their own agency and develop their own imagination.
In partnership with Carla Adams, founder/head of strategy for Duality Strategies, we started by helping the two leaders, who are big thinkers, innovators and entrepreneurs, to ground their big ideas and together, we worked to distill this radical model into a cohesive brand system.
We built the identity around guiding values like Rigorous Creativity, Deep Questioning, and Generative Impact—each one reflecting the mindset needed to thrive in a 4.0 economy. The brand speaks to learners, educators, civic leaders, and creators alike.
We drew inspiration from CoLAB’s duality brand idea: Community Generation. It captures their essence—where the power of individual learning meets the collective potential of community action. The resulting brand system will be as multi-dimensional as CoLAB’s impact, flexing from digital platforms to physical environments across schools, hubs, and community partnerships.
🎧 Listen to the latest episode of the Project Inclusion Podcast featuring Dr. Adrian Manuel and Bill Clarke, the CoLAB founders, as they explore what it means to co-design next-ready resilient communities, turn education into civic action, and prepare people for the future of work and learning.
