Brand Identity & Website Design: Social Security Works
I’m pleased to unveil an exciting project that I recently completed: a brand identity and website design for Social Security Works. Social Security, as most of us know, is an economic support system that has provided assistance to millions of Americans since its inception in 1935. Recently, some politicians have jeopardized the program by claiming that it’s in crisis. Social Security Works was founded to prove that the program is not only alive and well, but an essential element of a healthy American future. It was an honor to help strengthen this cause with powerful, communicative design.
The Social Security Works logo emphasizes the message inherent in the organization’s name. Through typography and punctuation, the words become not just a name, but an emphatic statement. In previous designs that were considered, other iconography was used: pillars (which you’ll see on your Social Security card), an eagle, elements of the American flag. We eventually decided that all of these things were superfluous; the name says it all. The final logo utilizes bold typography and color to amplify what’s already there.
The animation above features a series of graphic statements developed as assisting materials in the graphic identity. You can see another version of this concept in the background of the Social Security Works Twitter page.
This idea was inspired by a series of blog posts that the Social Security Works team had written. These posts are titled Social Security Works for People of Color and so forth. The articles are informative and persuasive. These phrases and statements proved to be quite persuasive as well. They expound on the meaning present in the logo.
Above is a screenshot of the website I built at socialsecurity-works.org. This site is a branded, customized WordPress content management system. The header features a Javascript photo slideshow portraying a range of societal demographics that benefit from Social Security. The ‘Social Security Works…’ articles have been given their own prominent area of the left sidebar. The right sidebar is devoted to social networking.
Many thanks to the fine folks at Social Security Works.
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