The Upward Project
The Upward Project is a non-profit program for high-achieving, first-generation college students from low-income families. The program provides career development, academic counseling, and financial support to these students during their college years in order to help them take full advantage of the career opportunities afforded by attending a selective college or university.
Platforms
Desktop, social media, print collateral, email marketing
​
Timeframe
Fall 2018–2022
My Role
Brand design, graphic design, information architecture UX, web design, social media design
Sole designer.
THE CHALLENGE
Create a brand identity, web presence & additional ongoing marketing/social collateral for an emerging nonprofit in order to raise awareness and advertise to potential investors.
LOGO & BRAND DEVELOPMENT
The initial design ask was for a website in order to begin publicizing the program, but we needed to take a step back and create a logo & brand identity first.
I met with the founders to determine what they envisioned their brand identity to be. The program needed to be accessible to both undergraduate students and faculty members as well as potential investors. Some of the words that the founders used to describe their brand were: professional, inspiring, accessible, forward-thinking, and friendly.
I started by sketching out lots of loose ideas, then moved over to Illustrator.
Ultimately, we agreed upon on the brand identity and color palette below.
WEBSITE DESIGN
The Upward Project had no web presence when I began working with them, so I was tasked to come up with the full information architecture of the site layout. The primary goals of the website were threefold. First: advertise who they are to potential funders; second: share current program information; and third: provide a way for individuals to submit an application to the program (or to learn more about this if applications aren't currently open).
I researched various nonprofit companies that were doing similar things, in order to determine how to most efficiently and intuitively layout the site. See the full site here.
MARKETING & SOCIAL COLLATERAL
I also create additional design collateral as the need comes up, such as social media imagery, email newsletter infographics, sales sheets, and more.
