Building an inaugural brand for Council Member Latisha Johnson (District 4) – City of Detroit
The Detroit City Council is the legislative body of Detroit, Michigan, United States. Latisha Johnson serves as the Detroit City Council Member for District 4. A native of Detroit, Council Member Johnson has been living on the Eastside since childhood. As the founder of MECCA Development Corporation, Council Member Johnson has been active in the community for over 14 years.
Challenge:
With a strong presence in the community, Council Member Johnson and her team asked to develop a brand that reflects the core values of the team’s work and commitment to the community. Council Member Johnson and her team selected Blended Collective to lead this brand development effort from beginning to end.
Solution:
After speaking with the Council Member, staff, and community such as residents, small business owners, and other stakeholders in one-on-one meetings, we discovered the foundational values of the brand focused on accountability, adaptability, integrity, and transparency. These values, or brand pillars, shaped the monogram to accompany a new font while inheriting the maize and blue color tones that have accompanied the Latisha Johnson brand for over a decade as the primary color tones – with the addition of a secondary color palette for additional design elements. The font and monogram both embody circular and square shapes. Circles are warm, inclusive, and comforting. They suggest community, integrity, and perfection. This also reflects the values that constituents used to describe Council Member Latisha Johnson. Squares symbolize order, trust, and stability. They also reflect equality and security, which are important values for the Detroit community. With the monogram’s ambiguity, it emphasizes the District 4, referred to as D4 by the community, as well as the initials “LT” of Council Member Latisha Johnson in the number. By placing it on the same level and in large scale as the font, it denotes the importance of the work done for the community by Council Member Johnson and her team.
Results:
Equipped with a new brand, design elements, brand assets, and marketing collateral, Council Member Johnson and her team have a cohesive brand that can be used in both online and offline settings. With this new brand, the team is creating consistent brand awareness and recognition to continue to build strong connections in the Detroit community. Learn more about Latisha Johnson here.
“Working with Blended Collective to develop our brand was exciting and rewarding. Lydia and Kevin guided us through a process that resulted in a brand that exceeded my expectations. I am a Blended Collective fan.”
– Gary Gray, Chief of Staff, City of Detroit