The Counter Narrative Project, based in Atlanta, is dedicated to challenging harmful societal narratives about Black gay men and addressing the complex issues they face. Through advocacy, storytelling, and community engagement, the organization works to dismantle stereotypes and uplift voices that are too often marginalized.
When I was brought on to lead the organization’s rebrand and marketing strategy, I worked closely with founder and CEO Charles Stephens and Deputy Director of Strategy and Impact Johnnie Ray Kornegay III. Together, we shaped a design system that was both cohesive and easy to use—built to function seamlessly, even without a designer on hand. At the heart of our work was the creation of a bold, memorable symbol that captured the organization’s commitment to advocacy, visibility, and unapologetic truth-telling.
Brand Identity
I deeply connected with the Counter Narrative Project’s mission of uniting communities and using advocacy to elevate voices that often go unheard. While their original logo included a speech bubble, I chose to revisit that idea with a more modern, vibrant interpretation—using bold geometric shapes to represent clarity, energy, and conversation. In addition to reimagining the parent brand, I also had the opportunity to rebrand several of their products and sub-brands. Each followed the same geometric system, designed to reflect the unique medium or focus of the individual offering while staying connected to the larger brand story.
The Counter Narrative Project uses iconography as a simple graphic expression so I wanted to ensure they had a number of options for the background recommendations I made within the color system.
Since the Counter Narrative Project uses iconography as a core part of its visual language, I wanted to ensure they had a variety of options to pair with the background treatments I recommended within the broader color system.
This color wheel is designed to help the team understand the color hierarchy intended for the brand.
I wanted the team to understand what I intended with the different color hierarchies so I provided a few options to help them understand how to keep the color system feeling consistent and cohesive.
Programs & Events
Digital Templates
It was important to me that the system I left behind gave the team the autonomy to create confidently—without needing a designer or creative director on hand. To support that, I used Canva to build a suite of templates that made it easy for them to stay on brand while producing content quickly and consistently. These are a few of the modular templates I created for social posts and header elements used in their monthly newsletter.
Apparel
