Oxygen for Educators
A keepsake magazine for a game-changing podcast offering radical hope to educators in the trenches.
The client
As student and educator needs have grown more complex, our societal response has been inconsistent at best and neglectful at worst. Rather than rising to meet the moment with meaningful investment and innovation, we are watching the people at the heart of our schools leaving en masse or struggling to stay afloat.
The stakes are too high to let this continue.
Oxygen for Educators prioritizes the well-being of those who show up every day for students: teachers, counselors, administrators, and school staff. It started as a podcast, but its message demanded the permanence of print to help reclaim the narrative around what’s happening in education — and, more importantly, convey what’s possible.
By amplifying the voices of educators and stakeholders across the country who are doing the work, navigating the challenges, and daring to imagine a better path forward for our young people, Oxygen for Educators offers radical hope, human connection, and tangible support to those in the trenches.
The partnership
Oxygen for Educators came to D Custom to create a magazine companion to the podcast. Leaning into the brand’s mission of “radical hope,” we architected and designed a publication that is beautiful yet useful, luxurious yet accessible — a respite for the educators, counselors, and administrators who need to pause, reflect, and recharge to be their best for our kids.
The magazine aggregates the invaluable lessons from a season’s worth of podcast episodes, acting as a keepsake that readers can revisit for acknowledgment, nourishment, and inspiration. Whereas the podcast offers weekly, thought-provoking conversations with people in and around the education industry, the magazine memorializes those heartfelt, sometimes revelatory moments and lessons that sustain the people doing this very important work.
In addition to launching the magazine, D Custom supports Oxygen for Educators through creative execution of marketing materials, website development, audience development, and sponsorship and advertising sales.
Nelson Mandela once said, “Education is the most powerful weapon, which you can use to change the world.” That means educators hold the most powerful positions in our country — and should be honored and respected as such. Along with the podcast, Oxygen for Educators magazine ensures educators — not headlines, soundbites, or policies made without them — are the ones shaping the future.
The takeaways
Oxygen for Educators is sustaining the very people it was built to support, who have described it as “powerful and impactful.” “So grateful to be able to feed my soul with such good stuff,” said one. “Thank you for seeing me,” said another. Perhaps this educator summed it up best: “I am proud to know there are people out there who have set their eyes on making this world a better place.”
Flip through the premiere issue of Oxygen for Educators
Keep browsing our work.
The Commit Partnership
Magazine-style reports that inspire readers to support the mission of ensuring every young adult has a path to earning a living wage.
University of Houston
Compelling magazines and their digital companion that help boost UH’s ranking among the top U.S. universities.