Speak Up Africa by DIA

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CLIENT

A cre­ative health com­mu­ni­ca­tions and advo­ca­cy orga­ni­za­tion ded­i­cat­ed to cat­alyz­ing African lead­er­ship, enabling pol­i­cy change, secur­ing resources, and inspir­ing indi­vid­ual action for the most press­ing issues affect­ing Africa’s future: child health. It is head­quar­tered in Dakar, Senegal.

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BRIEF

Speak Up Africa approached us to over­haul their logo and brand iden­ti­ty. They real­ized their cur­rent logo was doing the orga­ni­za­tion a dis­ser­vice by not accu­rate­ly rep­re­sent­ing the inter­na­tion­al scale of their out­reach. Our goal was to cre­ate some­thing that was sim­ple and have uni­ver­sal appeal across cul­tur­al and lan­guage barriers. 

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APPROACH

Ini­tial­ly we did a lot of research on African trib­al tex­tiles, as well as visu­al ref­er­ences that relat­ed to Africa, com­mu­ni­ca­tion, sound, human­i­ty, out­reach… Then we cre­at­ed a logo using sound-waves to illus­trate the com­mu­ni­ca­tions focus of the orga­ni­za­tion. We then encap­su­lat­ed the wave illus­tra­tion with­in the icon­ic shape of Africa. Last­ly, we finessed the illus­tra­tion to sub­tle­ty ref­er­ence a thumbprint to give the logo a sense of humanity. 

Speak Up Africa approached DIA to create a brand identity that conveys sophistication, optimism, and communication while maintaining a distinctly African feel. DIA nailed the design in the first round. The mark, which simultaneously evokes sound waves, an ear form, and the African continent without lapsing into cliché, was the immediate and obvious choice. The brand palette is clean, modern, and vibrant, with a subtle nod to the Pan-African flag. We could not be happier with DIA’s work and the continued positive attention it’s brought to the company. — Angela Foster, Creative Director at Speak Up Africa