LOCAL YOUTH SHELTER REBRAND

Team : Nima Khalilian (CBM), Prit Patel (Copywriter), Logan Kornhauser (Art Director), Dan Owen (XD)

Background: In 1991, a group of concerned citizens founded Rosmy, an organization that helped LGBTQ youths in the event that they were kicked out of their homes after they came out. In the interim, it has grown to include support groups, a physical building, and community outreach programs. During the same period of time, the LGBTQ rights movement has dramatically improved the lives of its members culminating in last year's Supreme Court ruling that legalized gay marriage. With this victory, many supporters believed that the fight for equal rights had been won, but the past year has shown that discrimination aimed at this community was far from over. 

Problem: Rosmy needed a new brand identity that defined its role in this new landscape, described their offerings and allowed them to grow into the future.

Insight: The period of time after an LGBTQ youth has come out represents the greatest opportunity for personal growth that they will have in their lifetime.

Solution: True North: Be their guide on their journey to self discovery

After coming out, LGBTQ youths need a guide to help become comfortable with themselves, but that path is different for each person. True North, the new Rosmy brand, signifies that no matter the path, we will be their North Star guiding them on their journey to self discovery. With personal growth as our goal, we used Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs as a roadmap for accomplishing it. Fortunately, the programs of True North fulfilled every step on pyramid of needs except for the last, self actualization. True North needed that last step completed, so we created Cartography.

Cartography

Cartography would be a youth run zine, where the students of True North could express themselves, hear from famous LGBTQ community members and program alumni and spread the message of True North out into the community

Branding 

Ally Sticker

The Ally sticker would be given to members of the community who had gone through the Institute for Equality’s training sessions in order to raise awareness of True North and identify safe spaces for LGBTQ youth.

Logo Characteristics: For inspiration on the logo, we looked to Rosmy and found the image of the narwhal on their crest on the wall. Additionally, we decided that the logo should never be black and white, but rather gradients to represent that there is no one path on this journey.