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Harlem Children’s Zone (HCZ) is widely recognized as a national leader in breaking the cycle of intergenerational poverty through comprehensive cradle to career programs, but its presentation of that story and associated programs was often diffuse and complex, missing the opportunity to tell a bigger, more integrated impact story.
HCZ selected Additive as its partner to reframe its brand story, refocus its brand architecture, and refresh its visual identity for even greater recognition, relevance and reach.
Key Deliverables
Building on quantitative research completed by HCZ and its partners, Additive embarked on a discovery process through site visits, qualitative interviews and desk research to identify the organization’s greatest strengths. Through this analysis phase, Additive uncovered the opportunity to shift the story from just what HCZ does (“breaking the cycle of intergenerational poverty”) to how and why it does it (“by building up opportunities in neighborhoods so that children, families and communities can thrive in work, school and life”). This shift in framing, together with a reorganized portfolio of offerings, helped clarify the breadth and depth of HCZ’s approach and impact.
To bring the refocused brand story and architecture updates to life, HCZ asked Additive to create a dynamic visual ecosystem that could flex from playful to professional to accommodate the cradle to career continuum of programs. Additionally, Additive built out the photography, illustration, iconography and data visualization styles; and developed a broad family of templates for PowerPoint, program flyers, stationery and digital email newsletters for ease of implementation.
Additive continues to advise HCZ on how to harness its brand so even more young people, communities and families challenged by systemic poverty can access the opportunities they need to live up to their promising futures. For example:
When the COVID-19 pandemic first swept New York City in the Spring of 2020, hitting communities of color especially hard, Additive partnered with HCZ to develop a mask education campaign called #StayCoveredHarlem. To support the campaign — which has since gone national as #StayCoveredTogether, Additive developed a communications plan, a campaign website, motion graphics and advertising assets for online and public transportation advertising.
Most recently, Additive supported the naming and launch of Wealth Builds, which aims to end intergenerational poverty and close the wealth gap in communities across the country by empowering young people and families with the education and resources to build successful financial future.
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