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Dế STEM Foundation
The next chapter of a decade-long journey from Maker Việt and ThingEdu.
Overview
Naming, Identity, and a Website for a Movement Reaching a Million Children
Dế STEM Foundation is the next chapter of a decade-long journey from Maker Việt and ThingEdu — a social enterprise built to bring STEM and robotics education to one million Vietnamese children by 2030. CDA's involvement began at the root of the brand: resolving what to call it, before building the identity and website that would carry that name.
NAMING
Resolving the Tension Between "Dế" and "Foundation"
The name Dế (cricket) was chosen early for being familiar to Vietnamese ears, easy to pronounce, and rich in story. But paired with "Foundation," a formal English institutional word, the two pulled the brand in different directions rather than reinforcing each other. Instead of abandoning "Dế," we explored what could bridge the two registers — arriving at Dế STEM Foundation, where "STEM" acts as the connective tissue: technical, internationally legible, and true to the organization's mission.
INSPIRATION
Built by Trying, Not by Instruction
In nature, the cricket is already a fully "engineered" creature. Antennae longer than its own body let it sense the environment before it acts. Wings rubbing together produce a sound that carries across an entire field. Hind legs launch it many times the length of its own body. Every part is an optimized solution to a specific problem — the kind of design any engineer would admire.
Dế Foundation builds its brand system on that same logic. Each part of the cricket becomes a pillar of the system, and once "robotized," each one expresses exactly the philosophy Dế Foundation stands for: nature and technology aren't opposites — together, they build something stronger than either alone.
DESIGN SYSTEM
A Palette Drawn from the Cricket's Own World
Every color in this system comes from somewhere the cricket actually lives — the ocean it navigates by sound, the green it hides in, the flowers and sunrises that mark its days. Paired with black and white as anchors, the palette lets every program carry its own energy while staying unmistakably one family.
Every Part, Engineered On Purpose
Nature already engineered the cricket down to every joint — each part built to solve exactly one problem, nothing more. The brand system runs on that same logic. Every session gets its own part: a fish, a spring, a robotic arm, a set of wheels — playful on their own, but built like components, each one ready to attach. Clipped onto the cricket's skeleton, these same parts recombine into a new mascot for every program, from Cơ Khí to Âm Nhạc, so the system keeps expanding across 34 provinces without ever losing what makes it recognizably Dế.
APPLICATION
Carrying the Spirit of Cricket Foundation Into Every Interaction
From slide deck templates and a social media system to business cards, letterhead, tote bags, lanyards, and outdoor signage — the mascot and its icon vocabulary had to travel around to physical Dế Lab wall without losing its warmth.
BRAND IDENTITY
Collective Design Agency
PRODUCER
Minh Nguyen
CREATIVE DIRECTOR
An Bui
PARTNERSHIP EXECUTIVE
Khanh-Thu Nguyen
BRAND DESIGNER
Nam-Bao Tran
BRAND STRATEGIST
Minh Do
SPECIAL THANKS TO
Dế STEM Foundation
and others who have contributed to this project
GREAT Study UK Alumni Documentary Interview
Turning alumni achievements into credible, human stories for the British Embassy Hanoi’s Study UK campaign.
