The Organization

Socks in the City is a soon-to-be non-profit organization based in New York that provides outreach for people experiencing homelessness.  According to its mission statement, "Socks in the City is an organization that gives socks and collects stories…  Our mission is to fill the physical need for socks while filling the emotional need of being seen and heard as a unique individual."

 

Business Card Design

I was asked to design the business card for the founder, Cat Fernando, using the hand-drawn logo by Ian Sokolowski. During the design process, I made a few refinements to the logo in illustrator with the approval of the client, but my changes were relatively minimal (making the organization name more centered and the word "socks" slightly farther from the outline of the circle). I deconstructed the logo a bit on the business card so that the name would be larger and more visible on the front of the card, and I used the socks as an icon by the founder's name on the back of the card. I also pulled the handwritten text from the bottom of the logo and put it on the upper corners of the card, as the handwritten elements of the logo go well with the very people-oriented mission of the organization.

 

Color Choice

I chose this sky blue color because I felt the black and white was much too harsh. This tint of blue felt soft, approachable, and optimistic, but not too upbeat to be suitable for an organization that is addressing the rather somber issue of homelessness (as well as the dehumanization of people experiencing homelessness).

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Donation Bin Sign Designs​

For the organization's donation bin signs, I tried to create an identity system by including the sock pair icon from the logo and business card and using the city skyline from the logo as a decorative motif. I chose Futura as the typeface because I felt that it fit the modern, progressive, and approachable feel of the organization.

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Below are some sketches of potential business card designs among which the client chose the final design: