2018 Do Good Initiative: Adventure Crew
Adventure Crew is Hyperquake’s 2018 Do Good Initiative recipient, selected from 18 competitive nonprofit applications. We worked with them to develop a new name, strategy, identity, and brand execution to position the organization for growth locally and beyond.
Who is Adventure Crew?
Outdoor Adventure Clubs of Greater Cincinnati — newly renamed Adventure Crew — provides access to the outdoors for youth from all backgrounds. A connection to nature improves students’ practical and social skills, self-confidence, and educational and career outcomes — but too many Cincinnati students don’t have the access to the great outdoors that many of us take for granted.
The ask.
When the founder of Outdoor Adventure Clubs, Denny McFadden, stepped down last year, Kirsten MacDougal became its second Executive Director. Her vision was to multiply the impact of OACGC, and one pillar of her strategic plan was a complete overhaul of their brand identity. The organization needed an update in a major way — a simpler name and a contemporary identity that would allow them to compete with all the other nature-focused nonprofits in a saturated marketplace, and lend credibility as they angled toward bigger programs and national sponsorships.
In short, they were poised for big things — and knew that a fresh brand could help them get there. We didn’t just want to help — we needed to.
The new brand story.
Here, the hard edges of city life meet the grit of the outdoors. We believe adventure is riding a bike for the first time, or feeling mud shift under your boots, or falling over your skis. Nowhere else can you find this precise mixture of adrenaline and peace.
Through Adventure Crew, city teens develop the courageous spirit to step out of their comfort zone and discover new worlds — outside in nature, and inside themselves. This deep connection to nature will change the course of their lives, no matter what environment they’re in.
Learning shouldn’t be confined to the classroom. There are great adventures to be had.
The mark.
Our teens are incomplete without nature. Our new mark depicts the connection Adventure Crew creates for our students. Just as the mountainous shape motions upwards, we’re all adventuring toward a greater future together. The open edges speaks to inclusion — our kids may have rough edges, but here, they each find a place to fit.
Photography contributed by Steve Paszt.
An Organization After Our Own Heart
Other than our shared passion for the creative arts, our decision to partner with Stages for Youth was driven by the profound impact their programs are having on kids in our region. In the short term, Frank and a generous group of mentors are introducing young people to a creative world that may have seemed like nothing more than a dream. Everyone that attends the summer camps has an opportunity to meet and work with like-minded people to create short films, learning skills such as editing, script writing, and creative problem solving. In the long term, kids are being shown that they can have a future in the creative field doing something that they love.
