In our digital age, where the lines between fact and fiction blur, it’s critically important to empower young people with the essential skills they need to become smart consumers of news and information and actively engaged citizens.
The News Literacy Project (NLP) is a nonpartisan nonprofit that works with educators and journalists to teach students how to sort fact from fiction and make news literacy education a standard practice in classrooms and beyond.
With the world turning its attention to the future of journalism and democracy, NLP engaged Additive to develop a visual identity that could effectively and authentically express its role as the innovative educator and movement-building organization that it is.
Key Deliverables
Working together with NLP, Additive developed a new visual identity system that reflects the organization’s mission to help people evaluate media sources and learn what information to trust and share. The core elements of the visual identity include the logo, color palette, typography and graphic elements, including illustration, iconography and data visualization.
At the heart of the visual system is the logo, which evokes the process of bringing information into focus, to see the big picture wholly and fully. The logo’s shape also echoes the notepads and screens journalists use to do their jobs. The four-dot motif implies the rapidly evolving nature of media and the news cycle while also providing continuity with the organization’s prior logo. Additionally, the logotype was streamlined and reformatted to emphasize the organization’s primary area of focus and to increase legibility in small-space applications.
To further align with NLP’s mission of digital transparency, Additive selected Roboto, an open-source Google font, as the brand’s primary typeface, and expanded the system to ensure inclusion, dynamism and responsiveness.
To bring the identity to life, Additive integrated the visual system elements across a range of applications, including stationary, brochures, white papers and speaking decks.
In early 2019, NLP began to implement its new visual identity across its website, social media platforms, print collateral and in presentations.
“The entire team at Additive were exceptional partners throughout this project,” Christine Bragale, senior vice president of communications at NLP, said. “The net result for us is a visual identity that reflects a fast-growing, visionary organization that continues to gain attention on both the national and international stage.
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