Life in the Land of yogg can, at times, feel like recording an entire jazz album without knowing how to play the piano (props to Jon Benjamin). In other words, creating the exact right brand for our client and orchestrating all the creation that surrounds that can be stressful. But we are lucky to do what we do. We get to make things, meet good people and help great businesses grow.

Nowhere was this more relevant than this past December, when we opted for a different kind of holiday party. We locked ourselves in the Land of yogg for 24 hours, and got our creative cook-fest on to give a Richmond nonprofit a bit of a branding makeover.

We invited local nonprofits seeking a touch up to tell us what they were looking for, and why it mattered to them. With only 24 hours in the tank, we had to be a little selective in who would benefit the most within our constraints. We read many amazing submissions and finally settled on an incredible organization doing great things for the Richmond community. Introducing: Beyond Boundaries. 

Beyond Boundaries invites everyone, regardless of their physical, cognitive, or economic circumstances, to raft on the James and hike around our local trails.

We chose them for a number of reasons:

1. What wow yes, we love adventures and of course everyone and anyone should have a means to play on the James.

2. Their smaller size amplified the affects of a rebrand. A clean look and quick line or two can make a world of difference for a growing organization.

3. They did a lot of soul-searching already. They had plenty of information to work with about who they are, what they do, how they do it, etc. In almost all aspects of what we do at yogg, especially in crunch 24-hour sessions, it’s easier to have a lot of information and hone it down than come up short from the start. The more time we spend looking for information, the less time we have to create something with it.

When Beyond Boundaries came to us they already knew a lot about themselves and what their goals for our community are. Our job, then, became streamlining their brand. Creating nimble, memorable pieces of communication that stuck Beyond Boundaries in the minds of new participants, volunteers, and donors.

We started with the foundation: strategy. What is Beyond Boundaries’ rallying cry that we can filter all of our newly minted material through? The yoggernauts decided that, ultimately, Beyond Boundaries rallied around the statement, “All in.” The true beauty of Beyond Boundaries is that everyone is welcome to adventure together. No one is left out, and anyone involved is empowered and invested by the mission.

Then, what was their mission? If Shep and Kyle, the founders of Beyond Boundaries, were accosted in the street by a bunch of impatient hobgoblins asking about their efforts, what would they say? Well, it’s that Beyond Boundaries makes sure that Adventure is for Everyone, and nature is important for everyone to experience. Bam. Pow. Exciting Sound Effects. We were Rolling—capital ‘r’. (It didn’t happen that quickly. There was a lot of talking, coffee drinking, staring at one another, talking, and more coffee drinking, but for the sake of not writing a 24 hour long blog post, we are going to use our fast forward button).

Fast forward x 2.

Play

Logo! We gathered around the corkboard and talked appearances. Then sketched. Then sang, and then sketched some more.

Beyond Boundaries exists and is ultimately inspired by nature, and this is what inspired the iconography of their logo. Trees were a natural choice (pun completely and utterly intended). Trees symbolize both growth and rootedness and no one tree is exactly the same as another. The yoggernauts also decided a river was in order, being the main avenue of adventure for the Beyond Boundaries excursions. Add in a new color palette and modern typographic system and the new brand was born.

In the morning, Emily, our fearless account leader, presented the work to Beyond Boundaries; and if there’s anything worth staying up all night for, it’s the look on new friends’ faces when we make something worthwhile to them. With help from our friends at Heritage Printing we were able to provide Beyond Boundaries with some fresh new pieces to support their brand.

Thank you, Beyond Boundaries, for what you do and for letting us share in your journey. Stay stoked, and get outside everyone. And we mean everyone.