Level Up Your Storytelling – Turn Ideas Into Impact
Level Up Your Storytelling – Turn Ideas Into Impact
Your brand identity is how people recognize you and decide whether to trust you. We develop brand strategy and visual identity systems that help your organization communicate clearly and consistently across all channels.
Your brand is more than a logo. It’s how your organization is recognized. It’s the feeling people have when they see your work. It’s the promise you make to your audience.
But most mission-driven organizations keep the same brand for 5-10 years, even as their work evolves. The logo feels dated. The color palette doesn’t match who you are now. Your messaging is unclear. Your team uses the brand inconsistently across channels.
The real challenges we see:
A strong brand makes your work easier. It helps people recognize you quickly. It builds trust. And it gives your team confidence that they’re representing the organization consistently.
We start by understanding your organization, your audiences, your values, and what makes you different. We interview stakeholders. We analyze competitors. We identify what your audience actually cares about. From this work, we develop a brand strategy that defines your positioning, messaging, values, and brand personality. This strategy guides all visual and creative decisions.
We create a visual identity system that brings your brand strategy to life. This includes logo design or refresh, color palette, typography, imagery style, and visual patterns. We design a system that works across digital and print, that your team can apply consistently, and that feels distinctive and professional.
We create comprehensive brand guidelines (or “brand book”) that show your team, vendors, and partners exactly how to use the brand. This includes logo usage, color specs, typography rules, tone of voice, imagery guidelines, and application examples. Guidelines make consistency easy.
Most brand projects run 10-14 weeks from kickoff to guidelines launch. The process is discovery-heavy because strong strategy leads to good design.
We conduct stakeholder interviews (internal team, board, partners). We interview audience members to understand how they perceive your organization. We audit your current brand and analyze 5-10 competitor brands. We review your positioning, mission, and values. We document what’s working and what needs to shift.
Using research, we develop a brand strategy that includes: positioning statement, brand promise, core values, brand personality, key messages, and visual direction. We create mood boards and strategic concepts. We get stakeholder feedback and refine the strategy before moving to design.Using research, we develop a brand strategy that includes: positioning statement, brand promise, core values, brand personality, key messages, and visual direction. We create mood boards and strategic concepts. We get stakeholder feedback and refine the strategy before moving to design.
We design 2-3 visual directions. You choose a direction or ask us to combine elements. We refine the logo, color palette, typography, and visual system. We create brand guidelines templates and application examples (business cards, website, social, presentations). We get feedback and finalize all visual elements.
We create comprehensive brand guidelines including logo specs, color codes, font usage, tone of voice, photography style, and application examples. We deliver all files (logo variations, color swatches, font files, templates). We do a launch session with your team to explain the brand and how to use it.
Analyze your current brand perception, messaging, and visual identity. Interview stakeholders and audiences. Define your positioning, values, and brand personality. Create a strategic foundation for all design and creative work.Analyze your current brand perception, messaging, and visual identity. Interview stakeholders and audiences. Define your positioning, values, and brand personality. Create a strategic foundation for all design and creative work.
Design a new logo or refresh your existing mark. Test designs with audiences. Deliver logo in multiple formats (full lockup, mark only, horizontal, vertical). Create usage guidelines so the logo is applied consistently.
Develop color palette, typography system, imagery style, and visual patterns. Create templates for business cards, email signatures, presentations, social media. Design application examples across channels.
Create comprehensive brand book documenting strategy, messaging, visual system, tone of voice, and application examples. Provide all design files (fonts, logos, color specs). Host training session with your team on brand usage and application.
In April 2024, the Department of Justice finalized a rule under ADA Title II requiring state and local government entities to make their web content and mobile apps accessible to WCAG 2.1 Level AA. In April 2026, DOJ issued an Interim Final Rule extending the original deadlines by one year.
The current deadlines: April 26, 2027 for public entities serving populations of 50,000 or more, and April 26, 2028 for public entities serving populations under 50,000 and special district governments. This covers most public colleges and universities, since population is calculated at the state level.
The extension changes only the compliance date. The underlying obligation hasn’t changed, and DOJ has signaled it may pursue further rulemaking rather than further delay. A year or two sounds like a long time, but a genuine audit and remediation process across a real institutional website, plus its document library, takes months, not weeks.
The accessibility problem is getting worse, not better
A February 2026 WebAIM study of the top one million home pages found 95.9% had detectable WCAG failures, up from 94.8% the year before, reversing six straight years of slow improvement. The average home page now carries 56.1 accessibility errors, a 10.1% jump in a single year, as pages get more complex: the average home page grew 22.5% more complex in one year, to 1,437 elements.
Government and nonprofit sites tend to perform somewhat better than the web-wide average, at 42 to 43 errors per home page, but that’s still far from compliant.
Accessibility risk is operational, not a one-time launch task. As teams add content, components, and third-party integrations, sites drift back toward non-compliance even after a fully accessible launch.
96% of all detected accessibility errors fall into just six recurring categories, the same six for seven years running:
These are basic, persistent, and preventable. That’s exactly why ongoing monitoring matters as much as a strong initial build.
Documented results.
Full ADA compliance delivered on a real, complex site (Board of Pharmacy Specialties: 150+ pages, zero downtime to live certification services during remediation).
Built in, not billed as an add-on.
Accessibility is part of our default process, not a separate line item tacked onto a project.
Ongoing monitoring available.
Accessibility compliance degrades over time without active maintenance, so we offer monitoring as part of WebOps, not just a one-time fix.
Direct sector relevance.
Government agencies, higher education institutions, healthcare organizations, associations, and nonprofits all face real accessibility exposure, whether from a fixed deadline or ongoing litigation risk, and that’s exactly where our project experience concentrates.
National Society of Black Engineers
Developed complete brand system for annual convention targeting 3,000+ student and professional engineers. Created distinctive visual identity that extended across website, email, social, signage, and program materials. Brand system increased event recognition and sponsorship appeal.
March On!
Complete brand refresh for annual cultural festival celebrating Black culture in DC. Updated logo, color system, and visual guidelines while maintaining festival recognition. New brand applied across event promotion, venue signage, program materials, and merchandise.
Greater Tampa REALTORS®
Strategic rebrand for organization undergoing mission evolution. Developed new positioning, messaging framework, and visual identity system. Updated all communications materials and internal workflows to reflect refreshed brand.
That depends on how much your organization or mission has evolved. We assess your current brand in the discovery phase and recommend either a refresh (update logo, colors, guidelines) or a complete rebrand (new positioning, messaging, visual identity). A refresh is faster and less expensive. A rebrand is deeper but more impactful.
A brand refresh typically runs $15,000-$30,000. A complete rebrand typically runs $25,000-$50,000+. Budget depends on complexity, number of design concepts, and scope of guidelines documentation. We discuss budget upfront.
Most projects run 10-14 weeks. Timeline depends on how quickly you can provide feedback and approvals. We provide a detailed timeline at the start.
A thoughtful rebrand respects your organization’s history while reflecting evolution. We design for recognition (people still know it’s you) while feeling fresh and contemporary. The discovery phase includes input from long-time supporters.A thoughtful rebrand respects your organization’s history while reflecting evolution. We design for recognition (people still know it’s you) while feeling fresh and contemporary. The discovery phase includes input from long-time supporters.
A logo alone is incomplete. We recommend starting with brand strategy (clarifies positioning and messaging), then designing a logo that reflects that strategy, then creating visual guidelines. This is more effective than a logo without strategy. We can discuss phasing if budget is a constraint.
Buy-in is critical. We include internal stakeholders in discovery, get feedback throughout design, and do a launch training session explaining the brand and why the changes matter. Internal alignment is part of the process.
Tell us about your association or institution. We’ll tell you how we’d approach it.
We’ll assess where your brand stands, clarify what’s working and what needs to shift, and show you what’s possible with a strategic rebrand or refresh.
