Introduction

The digital environment presents significant complexity. Messages that were successful before no longer work in the same way. Additionally, channels that used to be considered unquestionable face challenges such as saturation and loss of control over visibility, privacy, and user security through third parties. In the face of this volatile and ever-changing dynamics, is relying solely on luck the only path for all projects?

In this regard, curiosity to understand contexts is a key tool. To support it, I often incorporate research strategies such as ethnography, originally developed by anthropologists to study the relationship between human behavior and culture. By immersing myself in an organization's perspective, I gather valuable information on how I can support the direction of their project and contribute to its sustainability. This approach goes beyond visual explorations; it's about designing authentic strategies based on the people who are part of the organization, their current and potential skills, and their intrinsic motivations.

Direction

Guerrilla Foundation promotes contemporary activism and radical funding. Their goal is to redirect money to areas where it can facilitate change and be useful to activists and their communities.

The organization never had a structured visual identity development process in place. They created the website, color scheme, and logo before the strategy and content of their work were fully defined.

In this sense the primary goal was to develop a visual language that effectively communicates:

• Organic, diverse, complex, and layered social contexts.
• Represents the multitude of approaches and ideas supported by Guerrilla Foundation.

Deliverables

Impact indicators:

• Logo update.
• Typography definition.
• Color palette definition.
• Visual language definition.
• Modular system for social media content.
• Presentation template.

Process indicators:

• Meeting deadlines.
• Maintaining visual coherence and authenticity.
• Incorporating pre-established client feedback within the timeline.
• Internal and external collaboration.

Team & roles

4 team members:

• 2 communication members from Guerrilla Foundation.
  • One of them as the project's internal connector.
• 1 Guerrilla Foundation's director.
• 1 graphic designer.
  • Also as an external connector.

Timeline

• +4 weeks for the graphic identity.
• +4 weeks for the Annual Report 2022.

Research 

I conducted exploratory research to define their purpose, target audiences, and core values. This helped me understand their vision. We also spent time delving into their critique of philanthro-capitalism.

After conducting research, we created a strategic brief outlining the communication strategy and deliverables. Building upon their core beliefs, I prioritized three key concepts and translated them into visual representations. This formed the basis for the initial visual exploration. Moving forward, I developed a cohesive visual language and designed a new identity system.

One of the main challenges we encountered was related to the use of photographs, where some of the images have low resolution. Therefore, we focused on visual metaphors and clarity of concepts instead of pursuing pixel-perfect images.

Results

Authenticity means identifying what makes a project special. To achieve this, it's necessary to immerse oneself in the reality of the organization, its context, and above all, the people who support it. By developing graphic metaphors, a conceptual narrative, and consistent messages that reflect its attributes, a strong and cohesive visual identity can be created, which will help actively engage in the corresponding contexts.

This involves taking the time to reflect on the core beliefs, mission, and vision of the organization and making creative decisions that align with those beliefs. Investing time and resources to discover the true essence of a project is the fundamental basis for resilient growth. This investment aims to be efficient, honest, and, above all, sustainable in the long run.

To see one of the products of this project, check out the Guerrilla Foundation's Annual Report 2022 here.