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(Fogra 39)Job:08-30930 Title:RP-Design Logo
#175 Dtp:225 Page:206
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Essay
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Investment and Expectation
At the beginning of my career, through a combination of
wonderful events, I was able to meet rock legend Alice Cooper.
It would be hard to nd another musician that is as open to
creative space as Alice is, so needless to say, I was pretty excited.
Alice and a good friend of his started an organization called
Solid Rock to provide kids in Phoenix with a safe place to hang
out, study, learn about music and dance, and in general just
feel secure. My partners and I thought this would be a great
organization to support because we believed in its mission, and
we felt it would be great PR. We used our entire network of writ-
ers, artists, photographers, and printers, to help this edgling
organization get o the ground. For the most part it was fun,
but the work itself was challenging. We worked primarily on
the core brand: fundraising events with elaborate themes. All of
these projects typically started with the logo (g. a, b) and basic
brand development, which took us through several rounds
of design and approval by committee. Some of it was exactly
what we had hoped for, and other parts never made it to the
level that we had planned. As the years went by, I found myself
asking if we should continue doing this since the work wasn’t as
good as I knew it could be.
Everyone wanted the organization to be successful. We wanted
to help with process, branding, communication, and we wanted
to consistently raise the level and eectiveness of the mission
and messaging. But each year it seemed to get harder instead
of easier. It took me fteen years to nally gure out that the
issue was on both sides of the fence. Rule 29 loved Solid Rock
and the people in it, and they loved us, but throughout the
organization there wasn’t the level of buy-in for what we were
trying to achieve. And because we had invested so many years,
we didn’t want to let it go, so the work became frustrating.
We eventually ended our involvement with Solid Rock, and I
mourned that separation. But time brings perspective, and I
nally understood that this type of work is “not about you.” I
know this is hard to accept, because our ideas come from inside
our hearts, brains, and souls. We can invest so much energy into
something, knowing it has power, ROI, and impact—but if we
lose sight of the mission and the reason for our initial involve-
ment, we lose the ability to manage the project appropriately.
Design for a
Nonprofit
J U S T I N A H R E N S
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(Fogra 39)Job:08-30930 Title:RP-Design Logo
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(Fogra 39)Job:08-30930 Title:RP-Design Logo
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We remained one of Solid Rock’s biggest fans, and I’m happy
to say we have recently started working with them again after
two years. The energy is back, and with it a fresh perspective on
ways to communicate and a new understanding of everyone’s
roles and expectations.
Trust and Collaboration
In 2006 Rule 29 started doing work for an organization called
Life in Abundance (LIA) International that helps the poor in
some of the most challenging places in sub-Saharan Africa.
From the very rst project, I realized this was going to be a
d i e r e n t t y p e o f r e l a t i o n s h i p .
L i k e m o s t o f u s , w h e n w e s t a r t a b r a n d i n g p r o j e c t w e b e g i n
w i t h t h e l o g o . I n t h i s c a s e , t h e f o u n d e r i n s i s t e d t h e l o g o s t a y a s
i t w a s . Ha v i n g l e a r n e d f r o m S o l i d R o c k , I k n e w I h a d t o p r e s e n t
t h e r e a s o n s w h y t h e l o g o n e e d e d t o c h a n g e w h i l e m a k i n g s u r e
t h e f o u n d e r k n e w I w a s l i s t e n i n g , u n d e r s t o o d t h e m i s s i o n , a n d
w o u l d k e e p a s m u c h o f w h a t s h e l i k e d a b o u t t h e l o g o a s I c o u l d .
A d d i t i o n a l l y , I h a d t o n d a w a y t o c o m m u n i c a t e t h a t , a s h e r
n e w b r a n d p a r t n e r , t h e l o g o h a d t o w o r k f o r t h e o r g a n i z a t i o n i n
t h e Un i t e d S t a t e s , f o r Eu r o p e a n f u n d r a i s i n g , a n d b e s e e n a s a n
a c c e p t a b l e m a r k i n t h e v a r i e t y o f A f r i c a n c o u n t r i e s L I A w o r k e d
w i t h . T h e s e w o u l d b e n e w c h a l l e n g e s f o r b o t h L I A a n d R u l e 2 9 .
T h e o l d b l u e b i r d l o g o —w h i c h I c a l l e d t h e “w a r b i r d ”—d i d n ’ t
c o m m u n i c a t e t h e h e l p , p e a c e , a n d f r i e n d l i n e s s i t n e e d e d t o .
Bu t k n o w i n g t h a t w e n e e d e d t o k e e p a b i r d i m a g e , w e e x p l o r e d
t h e i c o n o g r a p h y f o r t h e m a i n c o u n t r i e s i n A f r i c a w h e r e t h e
l o g o w o u l d a p p e a r , d i e r e n t c o l o r s , a n d o t h e r o p t i o n s . W e
r e a d s t a t i s t i c s a n d t r i e d t o w r a p o u r h e a d s a r o u n d w h a t t h o s e
m e a n t —a n d h o w i t c o u l d r e a l l y b e t h a t b a d i n s o m a n y a r e a s .
T h r o u g h m a n y c o n v e r s a t i o n s a n d a t r i p t o A f r i c a , a c l e a r e r
p i c t u r e o f t h e n e e d , t h e p e o p l e , a n d t h e s t a t i s t i c s e m e r g e d f o r
m e . W e n e e d e d a b o l d l o g o , a s w e l l a s o n e t h a t w a s s i m p l e ,
p e a c e f u l , a n d h o p e - l l e d . A f t e r m a n y i t e r a t i o n s , I p r e s e n t e d o u r
s o l u t i o n t o t h e f o u n d e r , a n d I a s k e d h e r t o t r u s t w h a t w e w e r e
d o i n g b e c a u s e w e “g o t ” w h a t s h e w a s d o i n g ( g . c , d ) .
I n t h e e n d , i s c r e a t i n g a l o g o f o r a n o n p r o t d i e r e n t t h a n
c r e a t i n g a l o g o f o r a n y o t h e r c o m p a n y ? I n m a n y w a y s , n o .
Bu t i n s o m e i n c r e d i b l e w a y s , d e n i t e l y y e s . Mi s s i o n - d r i v e n o r
c a u s e - r e l a t e d o r g a n i z a t i o n s d e m a n d a d e e p u n d e r s t a n d i n g a n d
c o m m i t m e n t o n t h e p a r t o f t h e d e s i g n r m , w i t h a w a r e n e s s
t h a t t h e s t a t i s t i c s t h a t d e n e t h e c h a l l e n g e a n d i t s i m p a c t a r e
m o r e t h a n m e r e n u m b e r s —t h e y a r e b a s e d o n l i v i n g t h i n g s a n d
r e a l p e o p l e . W o r k l i k e t h i s d e m a n d s s e n s i t i v i t y , h o n e s t y , a n d
d i g n i t y —t h e s e a r e c r u c i a l t o t h e p r o c e s s .
The Moral of the Stories
De s i g n i n g f o r a n o n p r o t i s a b o u t s o m u c h m o r e t h a n d o n a t i n g
y o u r t a l e n t . T h e r e a r e i n h e r e n t c h a l l e n g e s a n d p e r s o n a l c o s t
t h a t c a n b r i n g f r u s t r a t i o n —o r u n b e l i e v a b l e s a t i s f a c t i o n a n d
g r o w t h . T h e n e x t t i m e y o u a r e a p p r o a c h e d b y a n o n p r o t , h e r e
a r e s o m e t h i n g s t o k e e p i n m i n d :
1. I f y o u c h o o s e t o d o t h i s w o r k , s e l l o u t f o r i t —b e l i e v e i n
t h e m i s s i o n o r d o n ’ t d o i t .
2. Be p a t i e n t ; c o m m u n i c a t e t h e p r o c e s s a n d i t s p o t e n t i a l .
3. L i s t e n .
4. T r e a t s t a t i s t i c s w i t h d i g n i t y .
5. L e t t h e e x p e r i e n c e c h a n g e y o u ; s e r v i n g t e n d s t o d o t h a t .
6. I f y o u d o n ’ t u n d e r s t a n d s o m e t h i n g , g o e x p e r i e n c e i t .
7. F i n d o r g a n i z a t i o n s y o u c a n m u t u a l l y t r u s t a n d
c o l l a b o r a t e w i t h .
A n d a b o v e a l l , r e m e m b e r t h a t y o u h a v e t h e c h a n c e t o h e l p
c h a n g e t h e w o r l d … a n d t h a t ’ s j u s t a t - o u t a w e s o m e .
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(Fogra 39)Job:08-30930 Title:RP-Design Logo
#175 Dtp:225 Page:207
001-272_30930.indd 207 9/2/13 11:04 AM
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