What's possible when art and mindfulness is used as a non-violence intervention? How might we create a brand that such an important mission deserves?
Good Measure, a new kind of nomadic agency that organizes creatives from across the country and the world to do good things in the world, like rebranding non-profits for free. Because we’re all working together intensively, what would normally take months is accomplished in a mad sprint of only 72 hours (with very little sleep).
Good Measure, a new kind of nomadic agency that organizes creatives from across the country and the world to do good things in the world, like rebranding non-profits for free. Because we’re all working together intensively, what would normally take months is accomplished in a mad sprint of only 72 hours (with very little sleep).
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The designs below are concepts that include fake data for illustrative purposes. The names and numbers in these designs are completely made up at random and do not reflect any person, company, or group’s past, present, or future plans. Even where a group or person's name may bear similarity to a real-life group or person, the numbers and other data associated with it are random. Any similarity to real life events are purely coincidental. Nothing contained herein is or should be construed as investment advice, legal advice, solicitation or encouragement to conduct any financial transaction, or an ad for any current or future offering of any token or security.
This project was organized by Good Measure, a new kind of nomadic agency that mobilizes creatives in short design sprints to make a positive impact in the world.
Creatives have incredible power in their ability to tell stories—to inspire action, unite communities, and catalyze change. That’s the thinking behind Good Measure. It’s also the Grounded’s mission, too, so as a client, they were a perfect fit for us.
I was fortunate to work with so many incredible people who donated their time to make the work you see here. I’d like to thank Good Measure, the team leads, and everyone who worked so hard to make this project a reality.
Background
Memphis, TN is one the poorest, if not the poorest, city in America.
While it’s hard to determine exactly, sources put the general poverty rate at 28.6%. For children, it’s a staggering 44.7%. Yet Memphis is incredibly rich in other ways, like its storied history: it’s the site of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s death in 1968, and a place he connected with the mindfulness taught by Thích Nhất Hạnh. It’s also a cultural center of arts culture, as the home of numerous artists from Elvis to Yo Gotti.
Grounded envisions a Memphis, TN better empowered to leverage that legacy of art and mindfulness to continue to fight for the equity King envisioned, disrupting cycles of harm, from juvenile detention facilities where Grounded’s work is well underway, to the streets of Memphis where it’s just getting started.
The client
Grounded creates award-winning work to inspire, teach, and rally communities in Memphis, TN
Films like As I Am (below) tell the stories of how childhood trauma, gun violence, and poverty are all intertwined, and how individuals and communities in Memphis are leading the charge for change. These kinds of stories teach that recovery from violence is not just possible, it’s happening today and that anyone can be a part of it.
These are, as Grounded says, “stories that need to be told.”
The Work
Grounded needed a brand identity that could communicate its mission and rally its community
Brand Values
So much of Grounded’s work is about introspection and learning intentional responses to emotion. So it felt right to start this project in that way, by mapping the emotional concepts at hand.
The following concepts emerged in collaborative working sessions with the client. These conceptual snippets acted as a sort of verbal moodboard that we kept top-of-mind as we worked on later steps.
Then, moodboards like these documented the visual concepts that came to mind:
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Brand identity
After exploring potential directions with mood boards, we got to work on developing the brand identity based on the visual feel and brand strategy we felt would best tell Grounded’s story.
The first thing you notice about the logo is the uplifting arrow, visually telling the story of a team and community that is always striving to do more and reach higher while staying grounded and true to its roots.
Look closer, and you’ll see it’s part of a letter “G” as well.
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Iconography/illustration system
We developed a system of iconography using the same sturdy, block-based visual language as the logo...
...and paired it with a system of abstract spray paint graphics.
Spray paint graffiti is an organic, informal, and in many ways, disruptive art form. It’s a protest, a reclamation of space. Its canvas is the city itself, and the audience everyday people. It’s a common sight in urban areas like Memphis, and an enduring element of the street-style aesthetic that is core to the Grounded brand.
The brand makes use of bold colors, screen-printing-inspired tone-on-tone aesthetics, and widely-recognized imagery of “embodied resistance”—from dance to protests—to bring Grounded’s expressiveness to the streets of Memphis.
Application
It’s always fun to imagine the myriad of applications for a brand. But with this project, extending the brand to creative applications was about more than showing off.
We asked ourselves, what if Grounded could become a brand that everyone would wear? A brand that could spread the message of the project onto the streets of Memphis and beyond.
Though we didn’t expect it at first, bringing the Grounded brand to streetwear was a natural move. The vision goes beyond the original art—it’s about inspiring communities to get involved. And what better way to do that than to make it almost a lifestyle brand everyone will be proud to identify with?
Thank you
I’d like to thank Alex, Tres, and rest of the core Good Measure team for their tireless work to make this another successful project. Thanks also to the team leads, including Rodrigo, who led brand for this project, and local partners on this project, in particular Ueno, our agency host. And thanks to my incredibly talented teammates, from the brand design team to web, video to content strategy. You rock.
Finally, a special thanks to Grounded for placing their trust in us. It was great working with you and I can’t wait to see how you grow.
Press
Non-profit Grounded takes shape thanks to 72-hour creative sprint by Good Measure and Ueno
Agency Ueno and global initiative Good Measure recently brought a band of creatives together for a 72-hour philanthropic event to help a non-profit organization gain a name, build a communications platform, website and video to address youth violence.
“Giving back isn’t always about the amount of time invested. For some reason, we tend to think about how long and how hard we work on something as a measure of impact. When talented people work on behalf of others—even without much time available—we can do a whole lot of good.”
— Alex Anderson, Founder of Good Measure
