Mixteca

Context

Create a vibrant, sustainable brand identity for Mixteca, a nonprofit providing essential services to Latinx immigrant communities in Brooklyn, NY.

Strategy

Draw inspiration from the organization’s leadership, services, and cultural heritage with a new verbal and visual system built around the belief that everyone has the right to thrive.

Solution

A modern, empowering, intuitive system that helps Mixteca articulate and expand its mission for years to come, reverberating across its website, social channels, activism, and beyond.

Creative Context

Based in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, Mixteca has been providing essential services to Latinx communities for over 20 years.

In 2020, we came together to support the nonprofit by developing a strategic and visual identity designed to amplify its impact across Brooklyn and beyond. Drawing inspiration from the organization’s vibrant leadership, the diverse communities they care for, and the colorful mural painted outside their building, our new identity reinforces Mixteca’s role as a “second home” for Spanish-speaking immigrant families to receive vital services, while modernizing their brand to attract a new generation of clients, donors, volunteers, and partners.

A Community Identity

"Mixteca is a small but mighty nonprofit. This work allows us to catch the eyes and hearts of new community members and funders, and to encourage and inspire the creative minds of our indefatigable staff." — Lorena Kourousias, Executive Director

Mixteca serves the community by providing culturally-informed services, skill-building, and immigrant advocacy. We worked closely with the nonprofit to amplify these pillars, developing a visual identity that welcomes, empowers, and inspires Latinx immigrants to break down barriers and seek out support. Drawing inspiration from Aztec weaving, Poblana tiles, and Mixe embroidery, custom patterns are designed to resonate emotionally. Photo treatments informed by the radiant new color palette also work to unify the organization’s efforts with a modern approach that feels at once effervescent and elevated.

Sustainable System

Sustainable, easy-to-use design tools fulfill the organization’s need for impactful, culturally appropriate communication across touchpoints and communities.

Understanding the day-to-day realities of a nonprofit, from unpredictable deadlines to shifting resources, we were determined to deliver an identity that wasn’t just beautiful, but adaptive, inexpensive, and easy to use across all touchpoints. A free Google font combined with a clever logo activation system allows Mixteca to balance practicality and creativity across all brand messaging, including website copy, social posts, community flyers, event signage, fundraising presentations, and even protest signs.