Caleb's Pitch
Brand Identity • Logo • Web Design • Web Development
Skills Used: Collaboration, Communication, Content Writing, CSS3, Editing, HTML5, Illustrator, InDesign, Layout, Photoshop, PHP, Responsive Design, Visual Design, WordPress
Overview
The client for this project was Caleb’s Pitch, a non-profit organization based in Gainesville, Florida dedicated to creating memorable experiences and enhancing the quality of life for children and families confronting serious childhood illnesses.
The organization is named after Caleb Jacobbe, an 8-year-old boy who lost his battle with cancer in 2006. He served as an inspiration to everyone he met on the importance of perseverance, bravery, and the value of living every moment you have to the fullest.
As part of the capstone course in my master’s degree program, working in a team, we were to develop a comprehensive communications campaign based on research and client needs.
We were tasked with creating the following:
- Situation analysis
- Creative brief
- Branding guide
- Campaign strategy
- New logo
- Several brand collateral pieces
- Wireframes and mockups for a new website
- Final website design
- Campaign book containing all of the above
Each team's completed campaign was presented to the client at the end of the course. They chose our team as the one that best captured their vision.
I will be focusing on the items I designed and laid out, as well as the logo and website, which I worked on with my team.
Final Designs
Logo
The main goal for the logo was to add artistic elements. We felt their existing logo was too focused on sports, and didn’t highlight the organization’s main program: syringe art.
By incorporating Caleb’s silhouette, we hoped we could carry on his spirit and legacy. The silhouette was taken from an image of Caleb when he threw the first pitch at a Red Sox baseball game.
While the design incorporates his story and the organization’s past, it also incorporates a new element with paint. The paint streak added fun new colors which work well for a children’s organization. We chose a sleek font to remain contemporary and professional yet balanced with the fun colors and design.
Brand Guidelines
With the Brand Guidelines, I made sure the overall design fit with the other pieces created for our project. I enlarged the paint streak from the logo and used this for visual appeal and continuity throughout the pages.
The guide includes information about Caleb’s Pitch, what the “clear space” around the logo should be, how to use variations of the logo, whether it’s in full color, black and white, etc., what the proposed brand colors and fonts are for Caleb’s Pitch and how they should be used.
Brand Collateral
There were several brand collateral pieces designed for this project. I was responsible for designing the brochure, business card, envelope, letterhead, and T-shirt.
I used the enlarged version of the paint streak from our new logo design on each of the pieces to once again draw visual interest and keep things consistent.
I also made sure to show multiple color options for the business card, envelope, letterhead and T-shirt designs using the proposed brand colors for Caleb’s Pitch: blue, green, orange, yellow, and gray in some cases.
On the back of the T-shirts and cover of the brochure, I included a slogan our team created for the organization: “Paint a positive experience.” This slogan reiterated what Caleb’s Pitch does and what they stand for: They offer positive experiences for children through painting.
Brochure
For the brochure, images of patients and volunteers were used to tell a story about syringe art and the children receiving a positive experience through the organization.
While useful for potential donors and volunteers, the brochure also serves as an introduction to Caleb’s Pitch for families and those looking to gain more information about the organization.
Business Card
Envelope
Letterhead
T-Shirts
Website
Each person on my team (four of us in total) had a hand in creating content and coding pages for this website. After everyone coded the pages and sections they were assigned, I brought all the code together and made sure redundancies were deleted and that all the code was consistent and worked well to make one cohesive site. We chose to create a custom, responsive website using WordPress, as it is was a simpler way for anyone in the Caleb’s Pitch organization to log in and make updates as needed.
The client stated they wanted a site that was not only something fun to look at for children, but also had a professional look and feel for the potential donors and volunteers that would visit their site. For that reason, we chose to use the various color blocks throughout the website with large photos to add visual interest and give a fun, colorful vibe to the site. We then used the dark gray to add contrast to the bright colors and bring in a professional feel.
Home
Caleb’s Pitch relies heavily on volunteers and donations, so we made sure the “Donate” and “Volunteer” buttons stood out in the header of every page, and the “Donate Now” button was very prominent on the Home page.
We added a “Volunteer Spotlight” section to draw more attention to the great things volunteers do for Caleb’s Pitch and the fun they have. This is something the client could update as often as they wanted with a fun quote from the volunteer along with their photo, which could spur visitors to want to volunteer themselves.
About
The About page tells the story of Caleb Jacobbe: who he was and how Caleb’s Pitch came to be. We also included a small section to explain what syringe art is as well as an “In The Media” section which could include links to articles and/or videos that the organization was included in.
Events
The Events page was a must-have by the client for their website. They could include maps, or links to any page for people to sign up for an event.
The “Experiences in Photos” section was also very important to the client. They wanted visitors to be able to upload their own photos to the website to showcase their fun experiences with Caleb’s Pitch.
Contact
On the Contact page, we made sure to offer multiple ways one could get in touch with the Caleb’s Pitch organization. They could simply fill out the form for information on various things they select, or they could call, email, or visit their Facebook page.
Donate & Volunteer
On the Donate and Volunteer page, we offered several different options for people to be able to donate. When selected, the Donate buttons for the various amounts would link to a PayPal page with the amount selected already filled in. Or, if one were to choose Donate Other, once directed to the PayPal page, they could enter any amount they wished to donate.
The “Most Valuable Donor” section could be changed out by the client as often as they wished and offers a way to say “Thank You” to someone, or some group, that donated to their organization.
There are also a few paragraphs under the “Volunteer Opportunities” section that could relate to various groups of people. If they were interested, they could click on the “Contact Us” button to go to the Contact page. The section below this explains that Caleb’s Pitch relies heavily on volunteers and if one would like to learn more about what they do, they can select “See More” to be taken to the Events page to check out all the fun events the organization had going on.
Campaign Book
The Campaign Book was to include everything we created throughout the semester. I wanted to create a design and layout that would separate each piece for the various sections, but also make the entire book look very consistent with the new Caleb’s Pitch branding.
I made use of the brand colors by using a different color for each new section in the book, and rotated through the colors as needed. I also used color blocks on each page with varying transparency not only because they added visual appeal, but they also fit well with the color blocks we utilized on many of the other design pieces, including the website.
The use of large photos on various pages, including those that separate each section, was very important as the client mentioned how much they wanted photos to be included on their website and other design pieces as it showed the special moments that children have with Caleb’s Pitch.
Creative Brief
Caleb’s Pitch is a non-profit organization founded in 2009 by Dr. Tim Jacobbe in honor of his nephew Caleb Jacobbe who succumbed to cancer in 2006. Since Caleb loved sports and syringe art, the organization provides pediatric patients with the experience of creating syringe art with collegiate athletes.
Target Audience
Primary
- Pediatric patients between the ages of 1 and 17 years
- Families of pediatric patients
Secondary
- College athletes and students who want to volunteer or donate to a local organization
- Families who have received services provided by Caleb’s Pitch and want to volunteer or donate as a way to give back to the organization
Brand Attributes
The brand was to reflect Caleb’s spirit and the organization’s services while being quickly understood and easily remembered. It needed to be professional and trustworthy in order to establish credibility for the organization as it expanded into other markets.
The brand needed to connect with both primary and secondary audiences and be flexible enough to be used on digital, print and textile mediums.
Communication Situation
Caleb’s Pitch was to be used on multiple materials to increase exposure and attract donors. The following mediums would act as the primary means of distributing its message:
- Brochure
- Business Cards
- Flyers
- T-Shirts
- Website
Objectives of Campaign
The objectives of the branding and communication campaign were as follows:
- Garner $100 dollars per month in website donations to cover the cost of monthly supplies
- Recruit four student volunteers who will commit to volunteering for a minimum of one academic semester
- Distribute information about Caleb’s Pitch to university and hospital volunteer organizations in The Big Ten Conference
Creative Strategy
The creative strategy included using images, videos and audience engagement to create a story-based marketing campaign. We would tell Caleb’s story as well as recipient and volunteer stories. Telling Caleb’s story would personalize the message and help the audience make an emotional investment in the mission of Caleb’s Pitch.
Providing a platform that users and volunteers could engage in to share their own stories would help create experiences that would further personalize Caleb’s mission and extend the message beyond the primary audience.
Mandatories
All materials were to include the following:
- Logo
- Website address
- Organization email address
- Phone number
- Non-profit status
- Facebook address
Campaign Strategy
Our creative strategy was to engage the target audience by using a story-based marketing campaign. Our primary objectives were to increase exposure for Caleb’s Pitch and to engage potential donors and volunteers. To meet these objectives we created both print and digital media that included images and clear calls to engagement.
Digital Media
Banner ads were created to mirror the style and calls to action on the website. On the donate banners there was a single beneficiary image that encouraged audience engagement. On the volunteer banner, the images included volunteers to stimulate a giving effect.
Stationery
Stationery items - including the letterhead, envelope and business card - provided a professional identity for Caleb’s Pitch and gave the organization credibility as they expanded into new markets.
Print Material
The print materials included a brochure, flyer, and newspaper ads that were consistent with the overall branding created for Caleb’s Pitch. We used images of patients and volunteers that told a story about syringe art and the children receiving a positive experience through the organization.
The flyer and newspaper ads also incorporated these images and were aimed at the audience of donors and volunteers who would potentially visit the website where their information would be collected and added to the database.
The brochure, while useful for potential donors and volunteers, also served as an introduction to Caleb’s Pitch for families and those looking to gain more information about the organization.
Promotional Material
We created tote bags, T-shirts, syringe pens, and water bottles that highlighted the logo. These were to be used to increase the organization’s exposure in the community.
The items were targeted at hospital workers, volunteers, families and patients receiving services, as well as given out at promotional events such as volunteer fairs.
Logo Sketches
Prior to designing anything on the computer, I sketched several concepts for the new Caleb’s Pitch logo. Several sketches showcase the use of a baseball diamond, as the organization is named after Caleb Jacobbe throwing out the first pitch at a Red Sox game. The baseball diamonds could be made to look like multi-colored paint strokes to incorporate the syringe art used by the organization.
A few concepts featured the letters of Caleb’s Pitch being scratched out of a background of paint colors that would be contained either within a diamond or simple rectangle, while others showcased the letters, whether in block or cursive font, sitting on a wave of paint. The final concept incorporated the wave of paint, but it used a traced silhouette of Caleb throwing out the paint, which brought a more personal element to the logo.
Concepts 1
Concepts 2
Concepts 3
