NewBridge | Boondock Walker: Brand Strategy, Design, Storytelling

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Building a brand model for a local center with a national vision

AT A GLANCE

NewBridge Cleveland Center for Arts & Technology was created to serve the Cleveland community by establishing a dual vocation and education center in the heart of the city. Its focus is to provide career training for displaced and disadvantaged workers and to use the arts as a means to motivate underserved urban youth to stay in school and pursue higher education. NewBridge is modeled after Pittsburgh’s Manchester-Bidwell, a 40-year-old program founded by visionary and MacArthur Fellow, Bill Strickland.

Starting with no staff, no students, no name, and no building, Boondock Walker was chosen by the Cleveland Foundation at project inception to guide the naming, identity and brand development of NewBridge Cleveland. Our objectives for the brand were simple: reflect the vision to create an organization that teaches, motivates and most importantly, inspires.

OUR APPROACH

A period of extensive research and discovery led to a presentation of 119 names and 22 taglines, resulting in a name that is not only a nod to the beautiful urban elements of our city, but a symbol for the center’s mission in connecting people to their potential. From this metaphor, the symbol, tagline, and color palette evolved as part of a dynamic visual style, with a mosaic grid system now incorporated into print collateral, website and physical elements of the dramatic space in downtown Cleveland. We developed the NewBridge website not only as an introduction of the brand to the community, but as a tool for funders to make donations, potential students and instructors to exchange information, and to highlight student work.

6

months to develop and launch brand

100%

enrollment in year one

1

rock solid brand foundation to build on

OUTCOMES

From naming the organization to creating an impactful website at brand launch; from collaborating in exhibiting the brand throughout the physical space to creating the promotional collateral, Boondock Walker is pleased to have been part of the development of the NewBridge brand model, which will be used as a platform for other locations across the country.