ICCJ BIPOC CAUCUS

The Institute of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Carleton University created an organization dedicated to supporting Black, Indigenous and, students of colour in the ICCJ community. Since the caucus was run by students for students it was important to create a brand identity separate from the university’s known colours and identity. Additionally, all students in the caucus would be creating design assets so had to be comfortable with the software and manipulating templates.

Organization:
ICCJ BIPOC Caucus
Goal:
Create a unique brand identity that would be easy for all caucus members to design their own content.
My role:
I designed a logo and set up the team with several design templates for their various social media and marketing needs.

The Logo
The team ultimately decided to have a very simple text logo. As the name of the organization consisted of two acronyms, it was important to emphasize BIPOC to reach the desired audience of Carleton ICCJ students who are Black, Indigenous and people of colour. I added a subtle gradient to the background and provided logo options beyond the default gold in red, black and white for various design needs.

Creating Social Media Templates
I created the initial concepts in Adobe Illustrator. After talking to the team I learned there was no room in the budget to pay for an Adobe subscription or to hire a permanent student graphic designer, plus all members would be creating content. I did some research and selected Canva for the team to use. Without a premium account, I had to select fonts built into the program. I created design assets to support the team and showed them how to use the software. Below are some examples of graphics I created for them to use as they need.

Overall Experience
The team is really happy with where the design process ended and the look of the new brand identity.

I enjoyed the design process and working with the caucus. I was hesitant about being a white designer and creating designs that appealed to BIPOC youth at Carleton, so I wanted to get it right. I made sure to allow for a lot of time for exploration, creativity, and input from the team. I pulled research and inspiration from many similar organizations and design popular on the Carleton campus. Additionally, I provided several design concepts to make sure we were always going in a direction the caucus was excited about.

Initial Proposal of Branding Concepts and Logo Variation
When I initially created the branding for the organization, I proposed several different ideas with the same colour palette the team requested. Below are some examples of branding concepts that were not selected.