Happy New Year 2012 from Design Action! What a year we just came out of. We were charged and excited by the 99% Occupy movement. It all hit us right during fundraising season when we were busy designing invitation and event programs, rolling out new visual identities, and cranking out appeals.
This is the moment whose idea has come and Design Action plays a crucial role at times like these. Did you all see how many great Occupy designs were inspired by the movement? We also created an “identity” for the mass movement-building organizations (that do this work every day) for some strategic actions.
Check out some of the great work we were involved in 2011:
Design Action created a themed design for Right to the City Boston, Foreclose on Wall Street West actions, and the Oakland General Strike. You probably saw all the placards on the streets as well as the website with live iphone video streaming, press updates and photo galleries. (http://www.foreclosewallst.org/en/) These actions were incredibly successful in achieving some great media coverage, and strategically targeting Wells Fargo and Chase banks, which have foreclosed on millions of homes across the US and putting them on the defensive.
Design Action also provided design services to other winning and crucial campaigns for worker justice and environmental and climate justice.
The Chinese Progressive Association and the San Francisco Progressive Workers Allianc e achieved a huge win in San Francisco when the city passed the Wage Theft Prevention Ordinance. Read about the case study of their communications plan here .
The Tar Sands Action at the White House put sustained pressure 0n the administration to stop the expansion of the Keystone Pipeline. We worked with the communications team to create a logo for the campaign and the designs for the outreach efforts – which were then transferred to the RV wrap for the caravan. We also designed the Washington Post ad and placards to remind President Obama to stick to his pledge to end the “tyranny of oil.” The campaigns are winning by getting the Obama administration to delay making the decision to approve the pipeline. And they are still putting pressure on the White House to keep to the promise.
Greenpeace’s Facebook Unfriend Coal campaign. Greenpeace was successful in getting thousands of people to tell Facebook to Unfriend Coal and to use renewable energy sources for the data centers. Design Action created the icons and the outreach poster.
A new identity for Asian Pacific Environmental Network : APEN was definitely ready for a change. We went through a process to update and renew their logo and it was rolled out in time for the 18th Anniversary event!
And if you are ready for upgrading your visual identity, check out the new logo book, “Know Logo,” we wrote and produced in 2011.
Web Services
Functionality on the internet keeps expanding and Design Action’s Web Team continues to design and build beautiful and robust websites. We use WordPress and Joomla, both open-source systems, that give your organization control over the content you publish. And we implement web-based tools that increase your ability to keep members, supporters and donors engaged in their online and on-the-ground work.
Here’s a small sampling of the work that the Web Team — Poonam, William, Josh, Sarah and Daniel — has designed and developed.
- National Domestic Workers Alliance
- Virginia New Majority
- Pacific Environment
- Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal campaign
Serve the People Poster Project… and more!
We worked with two organizational partners last year to produce posters. We worked with Boycott, Divest and Sanctions Movement to design their outreach poster with the Serve the People Poster Project.
On the 10 year anniversary of 9/11, we were compelled to create a poster for communities fighting Islamophobia. This poster process also got coverage on Turnstyle News.
Presentations
We also presented about graphic communications at the Making Cents Conference about the California Budget cuts at UC Berkeley, the Western Workers Conference in Oregon. We also do presentations for high school and college-level classrooms to inspire budding graphic designers into working for the Left.
Creative Communications
With the upcoming elections and the implementation of the racist immigration laws across the U.S., we have a lot of work to do in 2012. Design Action has also begun to deepen our skills in effective messaging and creative communications. We have always played a role in helping groups communicate through creative visuals and messaging. By working with you from the early stages of a campaign, image, text and tools can come together in the most effective ways. In 2012, we are committed to furthering the application of our creative messaging skills to your campaigns.
We are poised at the brink of change brought on by the important work of all of you — social change makers — and with the momentum from the 99% movement. 2012 can be the year when it is the end of business as usual, and the hopeful beginnings of alternative and sustainable economies, justice and power in the hands of the people.
We are entering our 10th year as a strategic communications service for the Left. Design Action will continued to support the movement for social change. We are the 99%. We are unstoppable. Another US is necessary. Another World is Possible.
Download the Design Action 2012 Calendar!