MOTION, BRAND, & GRAPHIC DESIGN
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Trans Truth - Digital / Social Brand Identity
Winter 2024 - Rebrand An American Idea
In this 5-week project, we were tasked with creating a visual campaign surrounding the concept of “rebranding an American idea”. My partner and I chose the topic of trans people, as members of the LGBTQ community and supporters of our trans friends, we felt it was important to create a campaign that uses accessible visual design meeting the median voter where they’re at, to help prevent harmful legislation and hate crimes against queer youth & adults.
This campaign, called TransTruth, is intended to reflect the visual design of things like Turning Point USA and Truth Social, to bridge the gap of trans education across the United States and, with the average voter now knowing the Truth, they are less inclined to vote against trans rights. The goal of this project was to educate the masses about the rich history of the trans and broader LGBTQ community through a detailed branding system of political rally-style merch, social media posts, and “propaganda-esque” signage.
Thank you to my design partner <3
This campaign, called TransTruth, is intended to reflect the visual design of things like Turning Point USA and Truth Social, to bridge the gap of trans education across the United States and, with the average voter now knowing the Truth, they are less inclined to vote against trans rights. The goal of this project was to educate the masses about the rich history of the trans and broader LGBTQ community through a detailed branding system of political rally-style merch, social media posts, and “propaganda-esque” signage.
Thank you to my design partner <3
Show Your Process!
First Wave of Research: Transgender Americans are Under Attack.
Research and authenticity were at the heart of this campaign. We decided to pick a topic that we both felt strongly about, and we had started talking about recent news about hate crimes against queer people and wrongful deaths coming forward, combined with the government’s recent fearmongering about trans people.
It made us angry just how wrong those people in power were, and even more that they were the ones making the laws that directly harm the community more. We knew that our experiences as queer people, with trans people, and those the broader community was the polar opposite of anything those lawmakers knew about, so we wanted to dive deeper into just why that was, and how we could create something to help fix that. We found that older generations, particularly Gen X and Boomers, lack trans education, and that’s directly leading to more hate and violence-based discriminiation, especially lately.
Developing Language: How do we speak to our audience?
Our promise is to give the power of understanding to our audience, and encourage them to listen and learn for themselves. They want to feel educated and informed, and this brand does just that for them. It’s about getting them to support trans rights in a way they might not even expect. Once they know the facts, the fear starts to lose its energy, and the reason for the hatred slowly fades away into acceptance.
Language Examples
We looked at many conservative news sources and saw how they both talked about themselves, and how they talked about trans people in their posts.
Our approach was to meet them where they are—using the look and feel of political rallies they’d recognize, from merchandise to social media content, to engage them in a kind of language they understand.
Our approach was to meet them where they are—using the look and feel of political rallies they’d recognize, from merchandise to social media content, to engage them in a kind of language they understand.
IT’S TIME TO KNOW THE TRUTH. THERE IS AN ATTACK ON AMERICAN FREEDOM. IT’S THE TRUTH YOU NEED TO KNOW THAT WILL SAVE YOUR CHILDREN FROM A LIFE OF HARDSHIP AND PAIN.
IF YOUR CHILD COMES TO YOU AND EXPLAINS THEY ARE TRANSGENDER, WILL YOU BE INFORMED ENOUGH TO HELP THEM? DON’T BECOME YOUR CHILD’S FIRST ENEMY. LEARN THE FACTS ON TRANSITIONING BEFORE THE RADICAL RIGHT TRICKS YOU INTO GIVING YOUR CHILD AN IRREVERSIBLE CHANGE TO THEMSELVES THEY DO NOT WANT.
IF YOUR CHILD COMES TO YOU AND EXPLAINS THEY ARE TRANSGENDER, WILL YOU BE INFORMED ENOUGH TO HELP THEM? DON’T BECOME YOUR CHILD’S FIRST ENEMY. LEARN THE FACTS ON TRANSITIONING BEFORE THE RADICAL RIGHT TRICKS YOU INTO GIVING YOUR CHILD AN IRREVERSIBLE CHANGE TO THEMSELVES THEY DO NOT WANT.
Color and Image Story
The colors we chose are deconstructions of the pride flags of the us, one for pride of trans identity and one for american pride - two kinds of pride coming together to form the blended color system, meeting in the middle. Both the American and trans flag have strong horizontal lines, as well as strong, clearly defined shapes.
The Digital Transgender Archive
We used resources like THE DIGITAL TRANSGENDER ARCHIVE, which catalogs LGBTQ history from all over the world, to ground our work in real stories and images. We want to help show those who think trans people are a new thing that they are in fact not, and have been around for much of documented history.
System Process
Both the American and trans flag have strong horizontal lines, as well as strong, clearly defined shapes. So, we have reflected those ideas with sharp geometric shapes lined rectangles, squares, and triangles in our graphic language. Both to suggest fact and logic but to also suggest the foundational building blocks behind the community being stable and strong. As for typography, we went for Campaign and Campaign Slab for this project. Gen X loves these types of political campaigns, with the color and image drawing them in and enticing them to want to find out more. The geometric, straight, impactful typeface reflects the audience’s need for clarity and truth.
Final System Conclusion And Applications
What did I Learn During this Journey?
Sierra and I worked really well together, which made it easy to brainstorm and find solutions quickly. We met almost weekly outside of class to keep the project moving.
I handled the physical item mockups and stationery design, while sierra took charge of the web and motion graphics. We collaborated closely on the overall visual direction and style.