Max Cove
Founded in 2015 as the Brooklyn Community Bail Fund (BCBF), the organization now known as Envision Freedom Fund has been at the forefront of the fight to end money bail and pretrial detention in New York State and across the country. However, by 2020, after years of growth, freeing nearly 5,000 people from jail, and distributing millions of dollars to Black-led collectives and organizers through grassroots funding, they formally halted their operations as a bail fund in light of devastating and harmful legislative changes to the New York bail statute and thus needed to shift their name. Their leadership also recognized the name change as a pivotal opportunity to refresh the organization's visual identity to more closely align to their position as an innovative and dynamic force for long-term transformational change. That's where me and my team at Delphi came in. Working alongside our partner and brand consultant, Lee Rafkin, we helped BCBF land on a new, future-focused name (Envision Freedom Fund) and I led the charge in designing the new logo and visual identity system.
Naming
Creative Direction
Brand & Identity Design
Primary Logo and Alternate Lockups
Brand Guidelines
Social Media Design Templates
The eye logomark is the core of the Envision Freedom Fund identity system. It is always tilted upward as a reflection of the organization's forward thinking and drive for transformative change. The eye is not contained within the circle, but on the contrary pushes past the boundaries and focuses up and outward. This yellow circle is the centering force behind the eye mark, which is a nod to Envision Freedom's past as BCBF and that history always informing and guiding their work as they continue pushing forward.
I also made it a point to bring their spirit of equity and inclusion into the design as much as possible. For instance, the typeface utilized in the primary wordmark is called "Marsha" and is directly inspired by the vertical sign that once hung outside of the legendary Stonewall Inn, and named after Trans activist Marsha P. Johnson, one of the most prominent figures in the Stonewall Uprising of 1969. The designer behind the type is Tré Seals, a Black designer and founder of Vocal Type Co. His type foundry is on a mission to diversify the design industry through typography. Utilizing Tré’s artistry in the logo is a direct reflection of the diverse communities and individuals Envision Freedom serves and partners with as well as their own team members. Vocal Type Co.’s commitment to transformative change perfectly aligns with Envision Freedom Fund's core values and the organization was proud to have Vocal Type's story woven into the design.
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