As a part of NCC’s move from a house of brands to a branded house, “Crosswalk Kids”, the children’s ministry, needed a rebrand. While the name Crosswalk Kids provided a ton of jumping off points for visuals, it no longer worked for the larger brand as it was confusing for new guests.
We ran the team through a series of discovery sessions to lay the groundwork for the change. As is so often the case in churches, teams often want to appeal to everyone, and you have to work hard to truly identify the core audience, and how you can shape visuals, messaging, and environment to target those people.
Brand Goals:
- Bring Crosswalk Kids into alignment in a branded house to avoid confusion for new guests.
- Allow for fun, childlike expression of the brand in environments and communication.
- Create an atmosphere aimed at drawing in young families: to attend, to volunteer, and to empower parents to lead their families spiritually through resources and events that go beyond Sundays.
After a series of workshops, we landed with the Kids team on a playful secondary mark created by our Art Director Josh Thomassen that could fit inside of the larger brand. The look began as letter characters and shapes, and through our refinement process with the clients, evolved into hand illustrated graphics by Dave Tress that blended a child-like wonder with specifics the DC region that worked in our multi-site context. The illustrations provide an exciting sense of activity and movement that perfectly characterizes DC and the families who call it home.
