We Rise
Event collateral to support communities
SECTOR
Design
Event Design
Social Change
OUR CONTRIBUTIONS
Graphic Design
Social/Email Graphics
Illustrated Information Design
WE RISE is an annual event held during Mental Health Awareness Month every May. Leveraging the intersection of creative expression, communication and activism, it features immersive, month-long experiences in downtown Los Angeles, including art galleries, rallies, performances, panels, and workshops. The organization needed programming for the 2021 event that would inspire and challenge communities to re-emerge and unify after months of isolation.
We collaborated with agency client Cause Communications as the design lead on the WE RISE 2021 campaign. In addition to working with the L.A. County Department of Mental Health, we partnered with the team at WE RISE to create the brand, provide art direction, and deliver a set of key art and templates — ultimately enabling social posts and event collateral that could be turned out quickly during the month-long event.
The Challenge
Even though the world was resurfacing from the COVID pandemic at the time, WE RISE 2021 was the first in-person event the organization had held since 2019. The greatest challenge of the 2021 campaign was to inspire and energize the audience to once again rally for equal access to mental health in their communities – something that was in even greater demand.
Additionally, the organization wanted to expand the audience and reach of this campaign to L.A. County’s many neighborhoods and districts, major art institutions, and lesser-known art collectives. To accomplish these objectives, we would need to craft imaginative event graphics that communicated a focus on societal healing in response to the unprecedented national experience of a pandemic and long-standing social injustice.
“Maria is one of our trusted designers when we need creativity, curiosity, and collaboration.”
Vanessa Schnaidt
Vice President, Cause Communications
The Solution
As the lead creative for Cause Communications, Germinate provided art direction in consultation with Cause to create a fresh new aesthetic for 2021 that was energetic, uplifting, and artistic.
For the brand look, we used a gritty activist vibe and of-the-hand feel that was flexible enough to be applied on various collateral — including social, digital, and in-person signage — so it would be easier to reach old and new audiences, both online and in the community. We designed a wide range of graphic templates and assets that could be used by Cause and WE RISE teams to promote the variety of programming throughout the month. Lastly, we delivered a user guide and provided training to the team, so they could easily create new graphics and templates on-demand.
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