Branding the ICA Story: Your Community Connectors
ICA (Intercongregation Communities Association) is a community connection that partners with hundreds of businesses, organizations, and congregations to help achieve the mission of creating a healthy, stable community for all in the Minneapolis metro area. Whether providing healthy food, supporting job searches, or offering a helping hand to make ends meet, ICA is ready to assist.
However, like many organizations that provide such a breadth of community services, ICA’s brand, logo, and messaging did not tell its whole story. For example, ICA’s logo referred to the organization as a food shelf – limiting the knowledge of its services provided to the community. The brand also needed a refresh to make it more colorful, lively and inviting. Working with CEL, its brand refresh, logo, and branding better connect with its community.
BEFORE
AFTER
Brand of Colors
ICA is a welcoming and inclusive organization, and the original colors were not cutting it. Wanting to showcase its partnerships, the new brand conveys a warm and approachable feeling while celebrating the community’s vibrancy. The colors are inspired by the many cultures within ICA’s constituents to give the brand a bright, playful, inviting, and positive style.
Designing a logo that ties back to its food shelf roots, the update is a modern wordmark that includes a new tagline — your community connectors. The logo illustrates that ICA is now much more than a food shelf, and the staff members can support people and families in need with a variety of services.
The font style suggests bold new beginnings. The black outlines and the bright colors are fresh, friendly and inviting. In addition, the tagline is wrapped around the “A” like a warm embrace. This element connects to the sense of community and illustrates that at ICA, you are surrounded by people who care about you and want to help.
Strengthen ICA’s Pillars
Food, Jobs, Housing, and Family – these pillars of ICA make it Your Community Connector. Showing value across the organizations messaging, materials include a version of the logo in a badge format to use on buttons or stickers for volunteers, stamps, posters, window clings and more. Utilizing the badge on promotional materials helps convey the pillars of ICA to new community members who may not be familiar with the organization.
In the hearts of ICA are neighbors helping neighbors, providing opportunities and resources to support residents, and connecting people and families with what they need to thrive. Here, all neighbors in need are welcome!
