First, who is McCormick Freedom Project?
The McCormick Freedom Project was established by The McCormick Foundation to help citizens, especially students, recognize the value of the freedoms enjoyed in the United States, with particular emphasis on First Amendment rights.

	Improve understanding of the First Amendment and its importance to our democracy through a mobile museum, Discovery Trunks program, lesson plans, First Amendment Summer Institute, Journalism Initiative (Post-Exchange) and website www.freedomproject.us)
	Engage individuals in civic dialogue with monthly public programs, traveling exhibits, a spring graduate course for teachers, our Speakers in Schools series, and an annual academic conference.
	Prepare students for their role as citizens through the Democracy Schools Initiative, teacher seminars, an annual teacher resource fair, and the Seen and Heard National Student Expression Contest.

The McCormick Freedom Project Challenge:
In 2009, The McCormick Freedom Project changed its overall strategy for reaching the public. Believing civic health begins in one’s community, it closed its physical museum on Michigan Avenue and took its exhibits and outreach to the road (Freedom Express traveling exhibit), and online through a variety websites. This decision meant that the Freedom Project had to work even harder to clearly convey its message and engage its users, while developing materials that could grow with the Freedom Project as it embarked on this new approach for reaching its audience. As the Freedom Project continues to develop its new strategy, efficiency in program development and clear communication is vital to its success. Therefore, the Freedom Project looked to Merge, a partner that could translate its various initiatives into both online- and print-based materials, serving as the primary means of communication and engagement.

The Merge Solution:
Merge has completed numerous projects with The McCormick Freedom Project, in both the online and print environment. Merge has become a go-to resource for bringing its initiatives to life, understanding the overall mission and the importance of communication.

Originally a Flash-based website that was inefficient to update and difficult to navigate, Merge converted the primary website into HTML that was easily updatable by the Freedom Project’s internal IT team. Without losing the highly visual and interactive elements (polls, audio/video, quizzes, interactive maps, etc.), Merge maintained the established branding and delivered a new website that catered to the usability needs of its audience as well as the needs of its own internal teams responsible for maintaining the site and keeping its content current.

Merge developed a system of web templates that are easily customizable to each additional exhibit or program, minimizing production time and costs while extending the brand through to a wide variety of unique microsites. Each microsite can be quickly customized both functionally and creatively per its unique needs, while the overall brand stands strong.

Merge has developed a wide range of print materials for the Freedom Project that are disseminated to a variety of audience members.

Lesson plans are provided to educators and are printed double sided, incorporating a highly visual poster on one side (to be displayed in classrooms), and a detailed lesson plan with worksheets on the reverse side (to guide the teacher in lesson preparation). Lesson plans range in content, from the right to bear arms, gay rights, flag burning, citizenship and more.

The Freedom in Libraries campaign is a full exhibit kit that is disseminated to libraries and educators worldwide. The kit includes posters, table tents, shelf danglers, info sheets, promotional items, and more — everything one would need to put on a successful exhibit that explores the role libraries play in promoting First Amendment Freedoms. A microsite dedicated to the campaign promotes awareness and provides the online component of the exhibit.