Breedlove Entrepreneurship Center

CREATING REAL CHANGE

Choosing which clients to partner with on pro bono projects is hard. So many good causes, simply not enough time. We focus our efforts on supporting historically underserved people and communities, using our creative resources to help make a difference.

In the case of Breedlove Entrepreneur Center, the choice was easy. A vital part of YWCA Metropolitan Chicago, this program was developed to empower Black women business owners, level up the communities they serve and create a more equitable tomorrow. We jumped at the chance to work with them in reimagining what their brand could become — one aligned with the overarching YWCA Chicago brand and embodying all the passion and promise of the women they support.

FINDING OUR NORTH STAR

Coming off a rich immersion session with the Breedlove team, we knew the new brand needed to feel real, convey a palpable sense of energy and uplift and speak compellingly to audiences ranging from Black women entrepreneurs to program funders and a variety of broader communities.

We dove right in, developing creative territories that explored different ways the brand could come to life. The verbal and visual stimuli from these territories that resonated most deeply with Breedlove then served as our North Star for the brand story and visual identity work to follow.

BUILDING UP THE BRAND

Brand stories are the foundation of our branding work. For Breedlove, we wanted their mission, promise and characteristics to not only clearly define and differentiate who they are but to articulate their outsize ambitions and act as the brass ring that they and the businesses they work with are always reaching for.

With these elements in place, we started crafting their visual identity. We created a palette of rich, bold hues; designed primary and secondary logos, as well as an icon, that nod to transformation and collaboration; and chose a sophisticated but approachable typeface developed by the first Black type designer. Then we brought it all together in brand guidelines — everything assembled to help lift up a brand committed to lifting up Black women business owners.