ArtBridge (AB) is a New York City nonprofit helping emerging artists transform urban spaces. The exhibitions have resulted in incredible exposure for artists while artfully reinvigorating the urban landscape.
The Problem
The organization has always had muddled messaging, inconsistent design, and no direction to achieve its branding goals. How it told its story, worked well enough in its early days, but a change was needed as it grew in scope and ambition.
The cover and the first pages.
My Responsibility
As the Director of Communications and Development, I gave myself the responsibility to create a brand book that would be the north star for all aspects of AB. The challenge in creating the brand book was apparent. Before I started, the documents I needed to research were scattered across hard drives, cloud accounts, and possibly nonexistent.
The ArtBridge manifesto.
The Our Brand section.
The Plan
I had a three-step plan. First, gather information about the organization. Second, interview board members, the founder, artists, and the staff, to understand their thoughts on AB. Third, compile all the information and the interviews to mix it all to create the AB brand book.
The Logomark section.
The Colors section.
It’s The Journey That Matters In The End
The final book included a brand voice, editorial guidelines, photography standards, logo, typography, and color palette.
Creating the brand book had the surprising effect of learning deeply about the organization. I now understood ABs why, what AB wanted to do, and how it would do it; nothing else would have given me this outstanding education and insight. The AB brand now has a different look and voice to captivate, excited, and earn donor trust.
The Typography section.
The Editorial section.
A Gif of the full brand book.
