Making the brands we work on more inclusive.
When it comes to our work, we know that audiences need to be a top consideration for our design choices and communications strategy.
Often we factor in age, financial status, education, geographic location, and language. Recently a few of our projects have contained a target audience where language, specifically Spanish, was a huge component and needed to be incorporated into our design choices. Here's a look at three of our different clients who all had their own goals and needs, and we took varying approaches to cater to their Spanish-speaking audiences.
For Help Me Grow, the website functions as a hub for families, healthcare providers, and caregivers, and is packed with resources about child development. It needed to be clear that all the valuable information and tools could be accessed in Spanish. A member of their team translated the entire site and its resources, so we built a language button into the navigation so that this feature wouldn't be missed and it would be an easy transition. As well as being nested into the navigation, we also placed other language buttons strategically over the site in areas that we wanted the user to download or access the information in their preferred language. For visual elements to help with the language barrier, simple icons were developed to call out key information, like contact details, forms, and downloadable resources. Showing users that an action could be performed with only visuals was another helpful design tool to solve the language differences.
When it came to developing the North Marin Community Services website, where a vast portion of the audience is Spanish speaking, we chose to incorporate Latinx motifs and visuals into the overall look and feel. Playing off Papel Picado and other cultural references, we brought those visuals in to create a unique set of icons, patterns, and design elements. We paired these elements with photography that reflected the Latinx community making it clear to the user that this was a resource for them. It was important that the visuals and messaging made the audiences feel represented, safe, and comfortable reaching out for services.
Our most recent project, the rebrand of For the Many, was our first time building in a different language to the identity itself. The client wanted their Spanish-speaking audience and volunteers to feel just as represented, so we created a Spanish version of the logo and tagline. Having a bilingual identity with translatable messaging allows the organization's communication to keep its strong, powerful tone despite the language. It was great to go beyond the incorporation of the community through imagery and bring it to a whole new level with this identity. The verbal language elevated the photography, hitting home that this was truly a brand and an organization for the many.
We've greatly enjoyed finding new ways to make our designs and work more accessible and inviting to the audience it's geared to. We are looking forward to continuing this process on projects down the road, making sure every brand we work on is more inclusive for all the audiences they are trying to reach.
Check out the complete case studies of these projects to see these practices in use.