VRL Rebrand — Ty P. Shaffer

Overview

Vote Run Lead trains women to run for office and win, with the goal of transforming American democracy. The 501(c)(3) nonpartisan nonprofit has reached over 36,000 diverse women across America, by encouraging and preparing women to unleash their political power in-person and online, with alumnae serving in city councils, county boards, state houses, supreme courts, and Congress. It’s now grown 4 times its size, after launching in 2014.

Today Vote Run Lead is one of our nation’s most empowering, bold, and impactful women’s political organizations, which wasn’t previously reflected in their visual identity. The organization’s former logos consisted of its acronym: VRL, with its name on one line: VoteRunLead. The acronym weakened brand awareness and served no purpose, as it shared the same number of syllables and amount of time to speak. The wordmark often led to misunderstandings between “Vote, Run, Lead” and “Voter Unlead” when rewritten and improperly capitalized or spaced, by viewers and across social media platforms. The previous color palette was utilized unsuccessfully, with 16 inconsistent shades of red and blue.

Through competitive analysis, surveys, and a charrette, board members, staff, alumnae and volunteers served as valued stakeholders in this brand’s redesign. Purple was overwhelmingly agreed upon to act as the nonpartisan brand’s prime color, with references to a Women & Power 2018 event quote by veteran, alumna & former candidate Eve Hurwitz, stating “the reason purple is my passion is because it’s red & blue together. Unity is so important, especially right now.” The redesign features a listed logotype and three simple, yet distinguishable icons that illustrate Vote Run Lead’s direct mission, as a one-stop-shop for accessible expertise for all aspiring women in politics and power. The checkmark, bullhorn and star symbols, along with the geometric sans serif, primary font, Montserrat Black, appear fundamental, unapologetic, & confident, with a sense of efficiency, and offer an opportunity to be very flexible for future use.