“I appreciated the creative and calm energy the team brought to the project. Y'all stayed flexible when there was some back and forth on our end.”
— Adele Hazan, Executive Director, Mktg and Social, College Board
service
Brand Design
client
College Board
The College Board is is a non-profit organization that enables all students to own their future through a suite of programs. We partnered with the College Board to create Real Talk, a career and college exploration program designed to connect Black students with Black professionals and representatives from colleges and access organizations across the country.
challenge
Real Talk was a new sub-brand of BigFuture by the College Board that had zero brand recognition, and virtually no brand identity.
Keeping it Real
In order to create a brand identity that truly resonated with the target audience, we consulted with dozens of upperclassmen high schoolers, recent graduates, and college freshmen. With them, we pressure tested our messaging, video content, and dug deep into how our branding work would be recieved.
Interviews
In order to create a brand identity that truly resonated with the target audience, we conducted live zoom surveys with dozens of upperclassmen high schoolers, recent graduates, and college freshmen. With them, we pressure tested our messaging, video content, and dug deep into how our branding work would be received.
Logo
The Real Talk logo is a hand-drawn typeface that takes inspiration from the geometric forms and unexpected accents of the 90's. The "RT" logo symbol is a secondary element that designed for touchpoints where the audience is familiar with the brand.
Colors
Real Talk colors are energized, bold, and warm. They span across the color spectrum to offer variety and versatility to the brand. The Orange and Blue echo BigFuture branding.
#FF4A00
#FFB41F
#294DCF
#FA70FD
#680731
#FFFFFF
Tints and shades
At the request of Real Talk, we created dozens of Tints and Shades for Real Talk to create contrast, depth, and legibility throughout assets.
#FFDBCC
#FFB799
#FF9266
#FF6e33
#FF4A00
#CC3B00
#992C00
#661E00
#330F00
#FFf0d2
#FFe1a5
#FFd279
#FFc34c
#FFb41f
#CC9019
#996c13
#66480c
#332406
#d4dbf2
#a9b8ec
#7f94e2
#5471d9
#294dcf
#213ea6
#192e7c
#101f53
#080f29
#fee2ff
#fdc6fe
#fca9fe
#fb8dfd
#FA70FD
#c85aca
#964398
#642d65
#321633
#e1cdd6
#c39cad
#a46a83
#86395a
#680731
#530627
#3e041d
#2a0314
#15010a
Typography
Real Talk typography uses the Montserrat family, a geometric sans-serif typeface that balances the stylistic, hand-drawn logo.
Graphic elements
To create visual interest, we created additional graphics for Real Talk including chrome forms, decorative stars, gradients, and a rule + RT symbol.
Chrome
Stars
Gradients
Imagery
Because Real Talk wanted a brand that could scale, we were task with creating a photo bank for use in future assets.
The bank focused on lifestyle photography, featuring a gamut of emotions, experiences, and interests that young students possess.
