The Vera Project

Established in 2001, The Vera Project has been an all-ages nonprofit organization committed to creating a collaborative, educational space for music and arts engagement. To support The Vera Project’s mission, I refreshed the nonprofit’s brand identity by crafting a cohesive visual system that aligns with their core values.

November 2020 - December 2020
6 Weeks
Solo Project
Designer
Research, UI Design, Branding
Adobe Illustrator, Procreate, Figma

Date
Duration
Team
Role
Skills
Tools

Process

01. Research

Client Background | Site Audit | Communication Goals

02. Identity

Logo | Iconography | Typography | Color

03. Design

Volunteer for VERA | Wireframes | Hi-Fi Prototype

04. Brand Book

01. Research

Client Background

As a music venue, recording studio, and art gallery, VERA is the place to grow and express your creative self. The local Seattle community engages through the multitude of workshops, internships, and volunteer opportunities offered.

With a wide audience, from youth ages 14-24 to students to traveling performers to the general public, VERA accommodates everyone. VERA works to form student-mentor relationships with youth to cultivate creative and professional development, while fostering an environment of trust, reliability, and exploration with the general public. Overall, VERA encourages collaboration and supports artistic experimentation to strengthen the Seattle community.

Mission Statement

Foster personal growth and community transformation through youth engagement in music and art.

Audience

Primary: Youth Ages 14-24, Students

Secondary: General Public, People Attending Shows, Volunteers, and Performers

Key Descriptors

Friendly, Loyal, Educational, Professional, Experimental

Site Audit

Prior to designing a new visual system, I first studied the nonprofit’s website to get a better understanding of how their current brand identity supports their mission and values.

Communication Goals

Informed by my client research, I determined three main goals that would guide the rebranding.

Confidence

Build confidence through engagement, performance, and skill-building.

Passion

Dive into your passion for the arts. Reach your greatest potential.

Strength

Show strength by coming together as a community.

02. Identity

Logo

New brand, new logo! I started with logo ideation and sketching out a few ideas. I presented my top three logos to my design peers and advisor, detailing how each idea ties back to The Vera Project as a brand. I asked for feedback on the logo they felt best resonated with the nonprofit’s identity.

Logo Ideation

Final Logo

With a rough hand-drawn appearance, the rearrangement of a ‘V’ and ‘P’ creates an abstract image of a musician playing their guitar. Thick lines and sharp edges convey strength. With minimal gaps around the edges of the square, the unfilled box symbolizes a work-in-progress, a nod towards VERA’s commitment to personal and community transformation.

Iconography

Icons remain consistent with the brand logo by maintaining a hand-drawn appearance. Line weight varies throughout the icon with both thick and thin lines. Icons represent frequent actions taken on the mobile application.

Icons (All icons were sourced from Gregor Cresnar on The Noun Project.)

Typography

For The Vera Project, I selected to use the geometric sans serif typeface, Neue Kabel, because of its modern, creative appearance with an experimental history. Friendly and easy to read, Neue Kabel brings joy in its letterforms. It’s playful and professional at the same time.

Color

With the rebranding of The Vera Project, I imagined an increased usage of colorful graphics on the website and social media to emphasize the energy they bring to the local community and to showcase the work they do. I kept the updated color palette simple to let the imagery shine.

Designing a new user experience for VERA volunteers.

03. Design

Volunteer for VERA

Implementing the new visual system, I redesigned the volunteer sign-up user experience.

The old VERA website required signing up for volunteer positions through a separate website. I created a high-fidelity mobile prototype to illustrate how this experience could be improved by allowing users to browse and sign up for volunteer events directly from the VERA mobile application.

1. Find event.

2. Sign up.

3. Confirmation.

Wireframes

Beginning with wireframes, I mapped out where different components of the mobile application would be and noted the user interactions. Following the wireframes, I developed a low-fidelity prototype of the application, received feedback from design peers, and used that feedback when creating the high-fidelity prototype.

Wireframes

Hi-Fi Prototype

Experience the mobile flow!

  1. Find an event.

    • Scroll through the list of upcoming events. Search or filter events shown by tapping on the associated icons. Favorite interesting events.

  2. Learn about an event and sign up.

    • Read the descriptions and select your preferred volunteer position. Sign up by tapping the red checkmark button, and then hold to confirm.

  3. Review event confirmation.

    • See more details or go see all of your confirmed events. You’re set to volunteer!

04. Brand Book

Reflection

Brand identity is powerful. Cohesive design shows confidence in identity.

It immediately communicates to your audience, who you are and what you’re about. I’m happy that I was able to learn more about The Vera Project and support their mission. My hope is that this updated visual design system will help The Vera Project better communicate with and connect to their intended audience.

Choosing a typeface took longer than I thought it would.

Type is so important! Sometimes you can identify the brand just by viewing their typeface. I underestimated how long it would take to choose one. I spent hours looking at hundreds of different typefaces, and I think what surprised me the most about looking at all the typefaces was how such small details (in the way the letters are shaped) can so greatly impact the feeling you get when viewing a typeface.

…

Since this project took place during the COVID-19 pandemic, I didn’t have the opportunity to visit The Vera Project venue, but I hope to attend or volunteer at one of their events in the future. ⭐