Overview
Creating Interfaith Leaders: Helping a Higher Ed Non-Profit Find Its Identity
Interfaith Youth Core wanted to foster religious diversity on college campuses across America—but lacked a compelling brand with a cohesive story that could back this big message. We helped IFYC find out what the organization is at at its core, and translate that innate character into a full-bodied brand.
We kicked our work off by meeting with IFYC stakeholders to understand the opportunities and challenges a rebrand presented for their organization. We then conducted numerous interviews with members of IFYC’s core audiences to understand their current perceptions of IFYC and the challenges they faced in their interfaith work. Surprisingly, we learned that that IFYC’s diverse audience groups didn’t share a common understanding of why interfaith cooperation mattered—and that this limited their ability to work together to make change.
Having decided to pursue a master brand strategy rather than creating a series of sub-brands, we set out to find the creative angle that would unite IFYC’s audiences around a common vision. After presenting several directions, we landed on the concept of "Indivisible"—the idea that harnessing our most fundamental differences could paradoxically create a stronger, more unified nation.
Rallied around our new concept, we focused on bringing it to life across brand identity, collateral, and messaging. We quickly found that talking about and illustrating principles of interfaith cooperation required a keen understanding of the many nuances in the space. The IFYC team was a great partner and we worked to provide plenty of options and iterations to make sure we got it right.
The IFYC brand was officially introduced to the world through the launch of a new website designed and developed by the Free Range team, along with a new office space designed by a premier interior design firm. With a solid brand guide in place, both groups were able to leverage the elements of the logo—the subtle quote marks, lines, and intersections—to bring the brand to life and illustrate the importance of all campus stakeholders working together to make interfaith cooperation the norm in America.
