Client relationship: 2016–2023
Loaves & Fishes, now Nourish Up, provides a week’s worth of nutritionally balanced groceries to individuals and families experiencing a short-term crisis, distributed through a network of emergency food pantries across the Charlotte area. I was their sole graphic designer for seven years, responsible for building their visual identity from the ground up and then keeping it consistent across every format the organization needed, from business cards to 24-foot box trucks.
Where it started
Loaves & Fishes already had a logo and a red-and-black color scheme when they came to 137 North, but no documented system for using it consistently. I expanded their palette with a set of secondary colors (red, blue, orange, and yellow) to give the identity more energy and flexibility across different materials, and paired it with a designated typeface. I also set guidelines for photo usage and logo clear space, and documented all of it in a visual style guide so their staff and outside vendors could apply the brand correctly without me in the room for every project. That guide became the backbone for everything that followed.
Where it grew
Over the next several years, I designed and produced the full range of Loaves & Fishes’ print and marketing materials. That included annual and mid-year impact reports, donor-facing fundraising mailers and appeal postcards, newsletters, digital graphics for social and web, business cards and internal collateral, event materials, and large-format work including highway billboards and a full box truck wrap. I also designed campaign materials for their partner programs, including Friendship Trays/Meals on Wheels of Charlotte-Mecklenburg co-branded pieces.
What the work involved
- Expanding an existing brand identity into a full system, including a secondary color palette, typography, and photo and logo usage guidelines, documented in a style guide for internal staff and outside vendors
- Designing donor communications, including annual impact reports, appeal mailers, and postcards, translating program data into readable visuals
- Large-format production for billboards and vehicle wraps, working within the technical constraints of outdoor and vehicle print
- Maintaining visual consistency across a wide range of formats and audiences: donors, volunteers, clients, and community partners
- Long-term brand stewardship across a nonprofit’s full communications calendar, year over year
Seven years is a long run for one designer to hold a nonprofit’s entire visual identity, and it meant learning how to design for very different audiences under one consistent brand: a billboard has to work at 60 miles an hour, an impact report has to hold a donor’s attention for several minutes, and a business card has to represent the organization in someone’s hand. Loaves & Fishes has since become Nourish Up, and the identity work I did remained the organization’s visual foundation for the full length of our relationship.
