Duke Collaborative Community Council
Visual identity and Infographic campaign for a community-centered HIV/AIDS research organization in Durham, NC.
Visual Identity, Marketing Collateral
“The Duke Collaborative Community Council (D3C) is a group of community members from Durham and across North Carolina. The D3C works together with the Duke CFAR to help guide HIV research at Duke.”
The D3C's primary mission is to serve and connect with communities of people living with HIV/AIDS through Outreach, Consultation, Membership, Leadership, Community advisory, and Community engagement.
D3C's proximity to their respective communities allows the organization to provide invaluable feedback on HIV/AIDS studies, allowing researchers to understand which topics to approach and how to analyze eventual research results
The Goal
The purpose of this project was to address the D3C's need for a tangible, memorable mark that would lend to assisting the organization's ability to be recognized, apart from the primary Duke University brand, acting as an encouraging communal symbol of optimism for HIV/AIDS research, community outreach, community awareness, and community support.
Early Drafts
In the early stage of the design process, I fixated on the idea of an image that combined the red "support and solidarity for those living with HIV' ribbon wrapped around a visual element that felt both communal and reinsuring, guiding my decision to incorporate supportive symbols like hearts, or helping hands.
The vibes were high when I figured why not take some time to explore more scientific feelings and organically shaped options akin to badges, pendants, and broaches. Though cliche, I also dabbled with a Plus sign here and there. I felt it imperative that these symbols strike a balance between something that felt caring yet strong, stable, and reliable.
The Solution
After a few meetings with D3C's leaders and excellent feedback from HIV community activists, the design process culminated with our development of the emblem found below! This final solution expressed feelings of warmth but clinical, passionate yet trustworthy, and welcoming while simultaneously exuding a commanding presence. My favorite feedback from this respective community is that the brand mark felt like a warm hug. The feeling of this aforementioned warm hug highlights a strategic use of a warm grenadine red hue for the ribbon juxtaposed against a cooler blue gradient of the heart shapes combined with structurally how the red ribbon is wrapped around these three heart shapes, alluding to the three Cs of D3C.
