Renaissance - Print Design
Overview:
Some projects are defined by their visual complexity. Others are defined by the sheer scale of the information they contain. The 2026 edition of What Kids Are Reading was both.
Published annually by Renaissance, the report analyzes reading patterns from 4.7 million students across nearly 20,000 schools. During the 2024–2025 school year, those students read more than 161 million books through the Accelerated Reader and myON programs, creating one of the largest snapshots available of what students are actually choosing to read—and understand.
This year's report also coincided with the 40th anniversary of Accelerated Reader, a milestone that provided an opportunity to reflect not only on the program's longevity, but on its continued role in supporting literacy in classrooms across the country.
Designing a report of this scale required a thoughtful balance between storytelling and data visualization. With hundreds of pages of charts, rankings, insights, and commentary, our goal wasn't to add visual complexity—it was to remove friction. We developed a clear information hierarchy, consistent layouts, and strong visual contrast so readers could navigate dense content without losing sight of the larger narrative.
The report also weaves together multiple layers of content beyond the data itself. Reflections from Renaissance's Content Designers offer personal stories about the books that inspired them as young readers. New "We Asked AI" features explore how emerging technology intersects with book discovery and literacy. The cover itself celebrates four decades of Accelerated Reader with a custom "40" composed entirely of book covers, creating a visual tribute to the millions of titles students have explored over the program's history.
What makes What Kids Are Reading unique is that it isn't based on surveys or opinions. It reflects real reading behavior at an extraordinary scale, offering educators, librarians, and school leaders meaningful insight into the books students are selecting, completing, and comprehending.
Our role was to ensure that story remained front and center. Through careful editorial design and an emphasis on clarity over ornamentation, we created a report that allows the data to speak for itself while making it accessible to a wide audience. When information is this substantial, good design doesn't compete for attention—it helps readers find what matters most.