BRANDING / IDENTITY / Experiential design / WEBSITE / PRINT
Teacherbus | Life is a Fieldtrip
The idea was to get kids and adults out to nature creating a fully immersive and uniquely educational and fun experience in and around a bus. At the same time we wanted to demonstrate that sustainable transportation in 2004 actually was a feasible, clean and safe option.
Visit: Teacherbus.com (Vintage Design;)
“Imagine San Francisco to be a diamond: If you stay inside, it doesn’t sparkle, but if you step outside and look at it from different perspectives it starts to shimmer and shine in your hand. ”
The Challenge
Vintage Bus
To start, we had an old and cute looking 1968 Gillig bus. No business. No name. No clients.
How could we create a brand that tells the story of not just getting people from A to B, but to offer a joyful experience while traveling around the bay area that is: Reliable. Clean. Fun. Personable. Sustainable. Educational. Safe.
The Solution
Mission Vision Design
Right from the start the mission was clear: Charge adults for parties and companies for outings (team building), in order to finance getting kids out into nature for free or at an extremely low cost. The Vision was to create awesome experiences that would spread by word of mouth. The design of the interior and exterior, plus the journey, had to be unique and mind-expanding to support the purpose of the bus.
The buses themselves had an open space / dance-floor in the back, and a lounge in the front. All the interior electrical needs where powered by solar power and the bus driven by Biodiesel. Being quite versatile, the bus also had outdoor sound capabilities which were regularly enjoyed.
NOPALIZE VIDEO: At Nopalize, we fufill our mission of bringing people and food closer together, through our event series, SEASONS, in which we visit local farms. One of the things that makes these trips so special is the TeacherBus, a solar/diesel powered, retrofitted school bus. Jens-Peter Jungclaussen discusses the mission of TeacherBus.
Educational experiences
Adventures for All Ages
The experiences for the adults brought friends together and deepened a new bond with the city and nature around it.
We brought 4000 students each year to nature programs starting in 2008 and an equal amount of adults around the bay area. The Golden Gate National Park Service programs, and other organizations, loved how happy the students jumped out of our bus at their destinations, feeling like special guests on a special journey.
Instead of going bar-hopping, we took our guests to a series of outdoor locations, often including Twin Peaks, Treasure Island, Ocean Beach, across the Golden Gate Bridge to look back at their beautiful city and well beyond.
the result
Connecting People and Places
We never spent any money on traditional marketing, instead we kept on experimenting.
Imagine a bus hosting regular DJ nights (TransportedSF), bands, movie nights, mobile dinners on Twin Peaks, and providing free shuttles for the San Francisco Green Festival, and many non-profit and school events, plus being the center of outdoor events big and small.
Our guests loved supporting the cause and having endless fun on the mobile venue.