Graphic Design
Branding & Design at NECCA
Building on NECCA’s history and mission, I created a cohesive brand identity that honors their roots while embracing growth. Through refreshed colors, updated design standards, and a reimagined website, I aligned their visuals with their mission, vision, and values—creating a flexible, modern system for lasting impact.
The Project
When I started as the part-time, in-house designer at NECCA, the brand was pretty bare-bones—just a logo and a few scattered design elements. My first goal was to build a strong foundation that reflected who they are—their mission, vision, and values—while honoring the logo their community already recognized and loved.
Working closely with the executive director, we identified key priorities: keep the existing logo and typeface, update the brand colors to feel fresh and modern, and refine a familiar graphic element into a clean, circular motif.
From there, I developed a cohesive visual identity, including a new color palette inspired by their move into a custom circus training facility, typography standards, imagery guidelines, and ad layouts. I also designed all the essentials—letterhead, business cards, brochures, and marketing templates—to give NECCA a polished, professional look right from the start.
This foundation didn’t just make the brand look good—it created a flexible design system that could grow with the organization and support everything from print materials to a full website redesign.
Responsibilities
During my time at NECCA, I’ve had the opportunity to bring our brand to life across a wide range of projects. From designing and developing our website to creating digital ads, print materials, brochures, event posters, and annual fundraising appeals—I’ve worn a lot of hats and loved every minute of it. Each project has been a chance to build on our brand standards while keeping things fresh, creative, and impactful.
Challenges
The biggest challenges at NECCA have always been budget and time. As a part-time designer—even after 8 years—it’s been a constant balancing act to make the most of limited hours and resources while still producing high-quality, polished materials.
To make it work, I focused on building systems that saved time and maximized our budget. I created reusable templates, clear brand guidelines, and design tools that not only streamlined my process but also made it easier for others to stay on-brand without needing extra design support.
It wasn’t always easy, but I loved the challenge of finding creative, cost-effective solutions and seeing how much impact we could make with thoughtful design and smart planning.
Brand Evolution
Over the years, NECCA’s look has evolved—refreshing the website, updating visuals, and tweaking layouts to keep things exciting while staying true to the brand people had come to recognize and trust.
As NECCA grew and defined its many programs, it became clear we needed to take things a step further to help each area feel distinct without losing the sense that everything belonged under one umbrella.
That’s when I built on top of our Graphic Standards and introduced a color-coded system. Each program area was assigned a core color from our palette, making it easy to tell them apart while keeping them connected to the larger brand. This approach showed up everywhere—from social media to printed materials—making it simple for our audience to follow along and engage with what NECCA had to offer.
This evolution gave us a system that strikes a balance between unity and individuality—helping NECCA’s programs stand out while staying visually tied together as part of one big, dynamic organization.
Impact & Results
Over the years, I’ve gotten a lot of positive feedback about the work I’ve done for NECCA. Early on, I focused on giving the brand a cohesive, professional look—something that helped us stand out as a reliable and polished organization.
As time goes on, I keep building on this foundation. I’ve improved the usability of our website, evolved the brand to keep it fresh and flexible, and added more structure to how we shared information with our community. It’s been so rewarding to see the impact of these changes and to help NECCA continue to grow and connect with its audience.
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