Secure Our Safety

Brand Identity
︎  Featured in the 2024 CCS Student Exhibition

Focus
Brand / Social / Motion

Means
Figjam, Illustrator, Photoshop, After Effects

Collaborators
︎︎︎ Jenna Vineyard

Timeline
5 Weeks

Summary
Secure Our Safety is a branding campaign aimed at reducing the risk of gun violence amongst conservative gun owners.

context

     The United States is amidst a gun violence epidemic. In 2021, 48,830 Americans died from gun-related injuries, according to the CDC.  Active shooter incidents, defined by the FBI in which “one or more individuals engaged in… attempting to kill people in a populated area,” have increased in frequency more than 20 times from 2001. Americans deserve to live without fear of becoming a victim of gun violence, an increasingly common reality.

    However, there has been resistance regarding laws passed to limit gun access. Conservative gun owners believe that gun control violates their freedoms as American citizens. Guns are deeply entwined with American identity, and a total gun ban is unlikely. Proper gun safety is needed in the interim, but also needs a rebrand to make it appealing to this audience. Protecting yourself, your family, and your fellow American by being responsible with your weapons is the ultimate form of patriotism.

research

    Jenna Vineyard and I were tasked with rebranding an American idea in the form of a brand identity package. Something both of us are passionate about is the need for gun control. However, we have found it hard to convince our conservative family members about the need for it. We decided gun control needed a rebrand in order to literally secure our safety.

We found it important to collect as much information about guns as we could, whether that be models, laws, statistics, or first-hand accounts, as neither of us are well acquainted with firearms. Through our research, we determined that we need a campaign that utilized phrases, imagery, and typography that appealed to our audience, but without poking fun at them or alienating them. Our visual and literal language is derived from common conservative information sources, including Fox News and the NRA.

life lessons

1.    When people see extended terminals, they immediately think of Star Wars. Ask your friends if your work “reminds them of anything” before moving forward.
2.   Putting your mockups in context makes for more impactful story telling. 
3.   Bitmapped images need an additional white shape behind them to pop visually.

    The two of us contributed both our own research and sketches for our process. Jenna was responsible for finding and creating our imagery. I was responsible for creating shapes and typographic applications. The two of us shared responsibility in creating mockups and formulating our presentation. Jenna presented our final presentation to our class.