Empire State Indivisible

The Challenge

Empire State Indivisible is a part of the grassroots progressive movement formed under the Indivisible Guide. After spinning off from predecessor NY Indivisible, the group needed a new identity in all its parts — logo, colours, icons, patterns, type, and more. In this era of mass communication, every group needs a refined, versatile brand identity that can stand out and be recognised online, in print, and in person.

The Solution

The brand’s name opened the door to exploration. No longer a New York City-focused group, we built a more inclusive, versatile visual identity, infusing the boldness and straightforwardness of The Empire State with a taste of the unexpected, reflective of all New York politics.

The identity is built upon a sturdy wordmark, crafted from a custom alphabet, as well as a modern colour palette, and an icon system built from hands.

The logo system allows us to use different wordmarks for appropriate applications. The stacked version is the most compact and used when a rectangular logo is expected. The wide version fits nicely on applications such as social media, and the wide version with fist celebrates our rebellious and protesting spirit, while allowing us to make best use of space in ultra-wide graphic formats.

For colours, we wanted to break away from the Navy-and-Gold of the NY State flag, but still make use of familiar themes in the Empire State. Instead of cutting, we added — two neutrals complement the two shades of blue, with two orange tones serving as highlights, and a variety of skin tones used where necessary. Together, this feels more modern than a simple corporate identity built around navy and maybe something else.

Adding colours to the logo gives us versatility in our designs. Allowing multiple colour combinations helps build recognition to our overall visual style.

Outside of the logo, the identity hinges on a series of hands to serve as icons. No cutesey drawings of computers and notebooks — we are a group made of people. Hands are expressive, a universal symbol of our humanity, and a timeless way to signal one another.

Hands can represent our expanded focus on the regions of New York State, as well as actions such as call, march, write, unite, look, or resist.

Combining our colour system with the hands graphics allows us to create patterns, whether by simple repetition and rotation, or by decimating the fist icon itself, forming more abstract forms. These patterns offer us depth and complexity in our graphics.

The principal application of the brand visual style is online, especially on social media, to promote our events and spur action. For this, we created a layout style which can be replicated across platforms and updated for the message of the week (or day!). We use blue and white backgrounds for ordinary messaging, varying colours to keep our audience intrigued, but only use the orange images for the most critical, most time-sensitive communications.

As a grassroots organisation, we have to operate on a shoestring budget, using what we’ve already got to reinforce the brand in person. We use “kiosks”, or in-person stations, to collect signatures and spread our message. Thinking beyond the printed page or screen, the new identity encourages members to dress the part, leaning in to colours, items, and materials they may already own!

We plan to produce t-shirts and other merchandise as a fundraising efforts, as well as to identify our members in public.

It’s already working. Even something as simple as a button, when repeated and purposefully used, can help unify our members and reinforce the brand. 2018 will bring more opportunities for our brand to be seen, and for our message to be heard.