As we mark a significant milestone—our 20th anniversary—we at Design Action Collective are excited to share not just a new chapter in our history but a refresh of our brand identity—a reflection of our growth, our values, and the dynamic movements we serve. Below is our journey as a case study of our various brand services.
Two Decades of Designing Change: Evolving with Purpose
Twenty years ago, we began as a group of passionate organizers. Our collective has always been at the forefront of championing social change through design. As we celebrate our 20th anniversary, we’re also celebrating the evolution of our team.
Today, we’re proud to stand as a majority queer and trans shop, bringing our varied perspectives and experiences to every project. Our commitment to lifting up our diverse communities and movements is mirrored in our work and workplace culture. We’ve invested in technology and art direction, so that we can experiment and lead at the intersection of design and social justice, but our collective’s strength ultimately lies in our shared commitment to liberation and our unique ability to translate that into powerful visual narratives.
A New Look for a Timeless Mission: Honoring Our History, Designing Our Future
Our new visual identity is a bold step forward yet firmly rooted in our foundational Points of Unity. With the help of Lightbox Collaborative, we developed a blend of modern design aesthetics and the unwavering spirit of activism that has always driven us. We’ve crafted an identity that speaks to the heart of who we are: a bold, worker-owned cooperative committed to justice, equity, and the power of community.
The Logo
The refreshed logo symbolizes unity and strength. Able to be written in one fluid line, it echoes our dedication to collaboration and solidarity. See A Deep Dive Into Our Logo Process below for a more in-depth look at how we came to this design.
The Font
Montserrat is a versatile and modern font that enhances brand identity with its readability and stylish geometric lines. It adapts easily to many applications, from digital media to print, and pairs well with other fonts to create a solid visual hierarchy. It embodies Design Action’s history of responsive adaptation and our future built around solidarity with diverse movements.
Color Palette and Shapes
Our updated color palette is inspired by the tapestry of causes we champion—vibrant, bold, and complementary, just like the voices we amplify. And our new brand design elements, such as imperfect circles, shifting waves, and textured pinstripes, embody both fluidity and structure, representing the dynamic nature of our work and the strong communities we serve.
Image Treatment
We’ve taken an archival approach to our collateral, mimicking the textures of newsprint and documentary footage with filtered and grainy overlays to honor the legacy of previous movements and the champions who paved the way. Our designs often reference names and faces of movement leaders as a tribute to their struggles and victories, ensuring that their spirit lives on in the work we create.
Forward in Solidarity: Join Us in Celebration
As we step into this new era, we invite you to help us celebrate our past and join in the future we’re building together. With a refreshed brand and strengthened team, we’ll continue to design actions for a better world. See what it would be like to work with us to create or update your own brand identity, as we honor our pledge to be a creative partner for change-makers like you.
A Deep Dive Into Our Logo Process
We began our re-branding process by working with Lightbox Collaborative, who helped us to articulate our brand personality. We had to reflect on Design Action Collective’s story during our founding and startup years, as well as how we define our shop now.
Lightbox conducted several interviews with both our clients and our professional peers to help us map the landscape in which we operate, and to determine how our brand is currently perceived. From there, we developed Design Action’s “Brand Promise” to our clients:
We promise to value your work as much as you do, and help you win with integrity, by delivering high quality services.
Lightbox then led us through a series of sessions in which we defined key words that describe our brand personality and tone. The four descriptors that we united on for Personality were: Creative, Fierce, Grounded, and Resilient. We described our brand tone as Collaborative & Cooperative, Transparent & Direct, and Strong & Bold.
From there, members of Design Action led our own logo re-design process. We continually referenced the brand personality and tone key words while designing and evaluating logo concepts.
We began the logo re-design with a “Logo Landscape” exercise in which we researched and compiled logos of other social-justice minded design studios and also of other cooperatives.
After this, individual designers brainstormed logo concept sketches and presented them internally to the Design Team. We decided that the primary logo should revolve around the “DAC” acronym.
Those concepts were refined and narrowed down to three initial options. The Design Team collected feedback, refined the concepts further, and presented a final logo (Option A below).
In the end, the collective approved Option A, which is written with one fluid line, highlighting the balanced and unified nature of our team.