Last weekend was Grand St. Settlement’s JUMPstart Change Rally, an event in the Lower East Side celebrating the nonprofit’s 100 years of service in the community. JUMPstart Change centers around getting people involved to create changes big and small in their communities, working together to make a difference. The rally, which took place 100 days before Grand St.’s centennial anniversary, featured free food, music, performances, service opportunities, a photo booth, prizes, and more. We got to design pieces for all aspects of this event, from branding and promotional flyers to event signage and interactive installations, and everything in between.

The versatile logo we created is in the same font and color family as the Grand St. Settlement logo, incorporating the GSS starburst and alternatively appearing over a paint swash in some of the signage.

Our biggest undertaking for the JUMPstart rally was the JUMPstart Change Wall, an interactive mural installation encouraging attendees to share their dreams and goals for their neighborhoods. The wall poses the question “Why do you want to #JUMPstartChange in your community?” in three languages and is covered in a multicolored rectangle pattern. We designed stickers with space for participants to write down their answers, resulting in an eye-catching wall that evolved with inspiring messages as the event progressed.

Our friends at GSS also envisioned posters marking the Centennial and celebrating their new tagline, “Bold. Grand. Inspired.” We created a festive, hand-lettered typographic lockup rendered in black and white outlines to encourage crowd participation by allowing event attendees to color in their posters to make them unique. This was a kid-friendly activity that inspired community involvement and helped reinforce the call to #JUMPSTARTCHANGE.

At the rally, the JUMPstart Change Awards honored 15 community members who embody the heart and spirit of Grand St. Settlement and their mission to lead bold charges for change. We first created unique illustrations recognizing the work of these individuals for Taste of the Lower East Side’s 15 in ’15 installation. In designing the awards, we used these illustrations over bold planes of color to stray from the standard certificate aesthetic and give them more of an art-print feel.

Last Saturday’s event was a total success, bringing together community members in a block party setting to celebrate what we can accomplish when we work together. We’re proud to work with such inspiring clients dedicated to strengthening communities in our city!