Dry Bones is a long-standing community of support among Denver’s unhoused teens and young adults. They have the simple but radical belief that companionship itself can be profoundly transformative. So alongside helping to meet emotional, spiritual, and physical needs, their real work is building ongoing relationships that remind the invisible among us of their immeasurable worth.
We created an edgy yet sophisticated visual identity that breathes new life into their provocative name. Inspired by Gustave Dore’s gothic etching depicting God bringing dead bones back to life, we created a custom word-mark that literally grows from a smattering of typographic shards.
Dry Bones speaks among friends, with a mixture of provocative confidence and humble openness, repeatedly inviting every person to recognize their immeasurable worth. The unhoused among us are often either invisible or — if seen at all — seen as projects or problems to be fixed-up or ‘solved’ to fit society’s expectations. They work to see all people as people. Which is a simple idea with radical consequences.
The brand needed to speak without pandering to two very different worlds: Teens living on the streets, but also legal officials and church donors. We created a custom word-mark that grows from a smattering of typographic bone shards. Motion was used to convey the brand story of new life emerging from death. Finally we documented the identity, strategy, and messaging in a useful guide to empower both old hands and new volunteers to use the new identity effectively on their own.
CREDIT
- Agency/Creative: The Made Shop
- Article Title: Brand Design for Dry Bones
- Organisation/Entity: Agency
- Project Type: Identity
- Project Status: Published
- Agency/Creative Country: United States
- Agency/Creative City: Denver
- Market Region: North America
- Project Deliverables: Brand Creation, Brand Guidelines, Brand Identity, Brand Mark, Brand Naming, Brand Strategy, GIF Animation, Graphic Design, Illustration, T-Shirt Design, Type Design, Typography, Web Design
- Industry: Non-Profit
- Keywords: Visual Identity, Visual Identity, Copywriting & Brand Voice, Illustration, Motion Graphics, Web Design & Development
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Credits:
Creative Direction & Strategy: Marke Johnson
Design: Kyle Huninghake
Illustration: Michelle Merlin
Project Management: Kimberly Johnson
Creative Direction & Strategy: Adam Blake
Messaging & Copywriting: Marke Johnson
Messaging & Copywriting: Adam Blake
