Stef Alicia Made (SAM) is a social change content and consulting company that uses design thinking methodology to help leaders build more equitable and inclusive tools to honor the diversity of the company, customers, and communities they serve. SAM works with clients to use their organization’s power and position to change internal structures and narratives to be leaders in their industry and in the push for a more just society. 

 

As companies have become more socially aware, they have also begun to acknowledge the contributions of marginalized groups, especially those made by people of color. Advertising campaigns and social media posts highlight the contributions of people of color, but many of these campaigns do not provide tangible benefits to the communities they highlight. SAM seeks to provide consulting services to ensure that companies fully honor the diversity of their organization.

 

This project involved creating Stef Alicia Made’s entire visual identity, including their logo, a style guide, and a website. I worked closely with the founders to ensure that their philosophy was echoed in their branding. Our biggest design priority was legibility. So much of SAM’s value lies in their language and ideology, so text needed to be the focal point of our branding. Our logo uses clear, easy-to-read text, with a circular badge that is legible at nearly all sizes. Our website layout is also as clean as possible, to avoid distracting from our messaging and to ensure that those with disabilities who use assistive technology can access our site. SAM’s color palette is primarily monochrome, to prioritize and emphasize the text. However, we use small spots of color to highlight focal points on our website, such as the illustration on our homepage, our “call to action” button, and the portraits of our team.