Summary: We created pro bono the verbal and visual identity for this “Branding for Good” project: a series of conferences and workshops to strengthen the civic sense among Romania’s youth.
2017 began in Bucharest, Romania, with massive protests that lasted for months. Attempts by the political class to weaken the power of justice to their benefit determined people to seize their role in preserving democracy and the rule of law. A new kind of spirit emerged among citizens, and some of them launched efforts to keep the new flame alive. Action groups appeared on Facebook to help people organise more effectively for protests, petitions, and other civic initiatives.
One of these groups, “Corruption Kills” (orig: Corupția Ucide) ended the year with a new idea: a series of events where representatives of the youth could learn how to be more civically involved. Being a good citizen takes a lot of things, but the events focused on the ones Romanian society now needs the most: fighting against corruption, making public institutions more transparent, and preserving democracy.
The group asked Storience to help pro bono with a set of basic branding elements for the series, and we were happy to get involved in this “Branding for Good” project.
First, we created the name Civistarter, to express the spirit of this initiative: participants learn to start civic movements and develop civically-minded ideas. We then added a descriptor to explain in a few words what the event series was about: “civic entrepreneurship incubator” (orig.: incubator de antreprenoriat civic). Our young and well-educated target audience would have already been familiar with the term “business/startup incubator,” so this descriptor would take them just a step further and make them see themselves as civic entrepreneurs.
The visual identity combines three symbols that are key to social change: the initiator, the spark (idea, energy, courage) and the city/community (symbolised in our logo by the blocks of flats).
The first event, hosted in Bucharest on January 27 2018, was a success, gathering 100+ participants from all over the country. Further Civistarter events are now planned for other cities nationwide, with local volunteers as initiators.
