A. Ragnauth: Expanding the Frame

This final project, where I developed an overall brand strategy and identity system for South Queens Women’s March, challenged me to think beyond individual design elements to create an unified system that communicates a specific, powerful message. My goal was to create an identity that directly reflected the organization’s commitment to community, equity, and action. As shownn my deck, South Queens Women’s March is an organization committed to uplifting unheard voices, to advocating and to community building. My design had to be confident, genuine, and welcoming.

The first stage in creating the new branding for the organization was a breakdown of South Queens Women’s March’s existing look. Although it demonstrated the organization’s passion and its community focused nature, it did not communicate an established, memorable look and was inconsistent which makes building an awareness and an connection with the audience more challenging. This needed to be improved.

By looking at other similar organizations and performing a competitor analysis of their color palette, typography, and imagery, I discovered that I needed to present a look that was professional, but yet aligned to the cause and its community. I was able to achieve this with the distinct color palette of magenta, teal and off-white which represents both vibrancy and trustworthiness, alongside a simple and clear typefaces that create a sense of importance yet a warm, inviting feel. For a bold and strong header I used Bebas Neue which gives the impression of power and strength, and for the main text of my body type I have selected Raleway which looks both classic and friendly. I used the new look and creted business cards, social media graphics, posters, brochure layouts and newsletter layouts, as well as website design. Most clearly in the brochure layouts, the newsletter layouts, and the website designs, the layout can be manipulated in many ways to provide the user with an exciting experience while clearly communicating information.

This has been very informative and skill building project where I have learned to consider the message within each design piece. No matter how small or big a piece of design is, it carries weight when defining how it will be portrayed, and now more than ever, I have realized the benefit in strategic design.