Sentient Media
BRAND EXPANSION, SOCIAL MEDIA GRAPHICS
The Project
Sentient Media is a nonprofit media covering factory farming and animal policy. They create public awareness of the agriculture industry’s impact on the climate crisis, extraction of natural resources and systemic exploitation of those bound up in food production. They do this with investigative journalism, fact-checked explainers, resources for journalists covering food and farming, partnerships with publishers and by holding the media accountable when it fails to report on the most pressing issues of our time.
Our Approach
We consulted with Sentient Media to find out which areas of their brand were working well for them, versus which areas could be improved. Their core branding was solid – they already had a logo and brand palette that was recognizable and beloved by their audience, but when it came to creating new materials and coordinating their sub-brands, they needed more tools in their brand toolkit. We expanded their brand with more tools such as patterns, icons, a robust brand guide, and social media templates.
Core Branding Check
We ensured that their core brand was solid and provided a vertical centered version of the core logo to ensure maximum flexibility. We also provided a robust brand guide to not only outline the new additions to the brand, but also the existing core brand.
Sub-Branding
Sentient Media has several programs within it and we tied them together with a unified sub-brand aesthetic. The result is a cohesive suite of brands that maintain the Sentient Media core identity with a custom look for each sub-brand. This is a pattern that can be expanded over time as programs are added or removed.
Icon Set
We noticed that Sentient Media needed to have a consistent suite of icons to pull from – not only to represent their main news categories, but also to represent animals and other subjects.
Patterns
We created a few different modern circular patterns for Sentient Media to mix up in their materials for variety. The core pattern uses the circular icon set mixed with the Sentient Media logo (shown below). We also created circular patterns that reference the logo and are perfect for subtle background textures.
Social Media Graphics
We provided a suite of social media templates in Canva for their social media team to use, creating consistency and variety for their various feeds.
Document Design
This was a limited edition print of their 2022 coverage, offered as a gift for their generous donors. We worked with a local, environmentally-friendly print shop to produce a custom die-cut cover and high end printing techniques to make the final product feel like a real treat for the recipients.
“Our brand identity was long-overdue for sharpening up. Over the last couple of years, our programs, ambitions and mission have evolved. This means ad hoc sub branding and a lot of headaches figuring out how to present new ideas in a way that fits our evolution. We’re deeply grateful that Violet Studios came along at the exact right time to help us update and apply cohesion to our brand. The output has been an incredibly professional, high quality update that will keep our team on track and sharpen our outward communications. We could not have created this update to this high standard on our current budget and we can’t wait to roll out this new, sharper, more cohesive version of Sentient Media to the world!”