This project included rebranding plus building a new website. The original site had not been overhauled in more than twelve years, so it needed to be redesigned from the bottom up. The original logo had to go. It was regarded as ugly by all involved with the project. It was an ear with three lines to the right. As the organization has no plans for producing merchandise, I felt that a graphic symbol was not needed. (Bye bye ear.) The name of the organization is long and the owner wanted to use just the initials, LBL. With that in mind I decided on a text-only logotype. In addition to the website, the logo is used on business cards and stationery.

This project was conceived in 2013. There were delays in development due to illness, relocation and heavy workloads. There were times when we thought it would never be launched. The first redesign sat around for several years. It became stale and I wasn’t happy with it so I started over from scratch.

Design trends come and go. The plan was to make it contemporary. I didn’t want it to be too edgy. LBL is a non-profit organization and they update it as funding permits. With that in mind, I knew I needed to create a layout and color palette that would not appear out-of-step after a year or two. It needed to be styled in a way that could be revitalized periodically without needing a complete redesign.

The centerpiece is the award-winning radio program series Between Civil War and Civil Rights. The series explores and documents how yesterday’s racialized “amusements”—and dead-serious struggles—sowed the seeds of today’s national divisions and apparent political paralysis.  In these programs, those who lived the events tell the stories—from all sides—in their own voices and words.

It is a big site with lots of multimedia files. The owner’s intention was that it be used to encourage dialogue and participation from site visitors. So, finally after five years in development, LBL is open for business.