Sprout’s Brand Creative team was tasked with designing a visual identity system for the company’s employee resource groups (ERGs). ERGs are employee-led groups for individuals of a shared identity or experience, typically from marginalized or underrepresented communities. These groups provide a supportive and celebratory space for each other, as well as engage and educate the broader Sprout team during monthly Diversity, Equity and Inclusion meetings.
The paradox of the design challenge stood out to me from the beginning—how could we possibly distill the deep, multi-faceted identities of each community group into a singular mark without over-simplifying their sense of self? The way forward was to approach the task as one of co-design. My colleagues and I planned and facilitated participatory workshops with self-selected members of each group, and asked questions that drew out meaningful stories, affirming cultural representations, and deepened our understandings of what each group stood for.
During each workshop, I listened to the stories told for visual signifiers, symbols, sources of inspiration, and sketched what I heard resonated with the group. I iterated through many rounds of design, layering in meaning, and refining the nuances until every choice had significance, the full system felt harmonious, and each BRG felt their logo embodied their spirit. Each mark has a distinct shape and personality, but as a family, they are united by the vibrancy of color, compositional symmetry, and illustration style, which builds off existing identity systems in Sprout’s vernacular.
The Accessibility@Sprout logomark utilizes the human-centric, sensory icon of a wide-open eye to symbolize open access. The pupil and iris are rendered as pixels to reference digital accessibility and form the shape of a plus sign, representing inclusivity. The color blue is confident, soothing and easily-perceivable, just like the world A11y envisions: one in which access is equitable and available to people of all abilities.
The Asians@Sprout logomark takes the form of a symmetrical star-shaped floral motif, emphasizing the community’s connection to nature, balance and harmony. The shapes inside the design pull from patterns seen in many Asian cultures emphasizing the multi-faceted richness of Asian identities, and the color palette has been modernized from the traditional gold and red to a more energizing gold and pink, bridging the divide between past and present.
The Black@Sprout logomark is a bold shining sun, symbolizing the vibrancy and creativity of the Black community. The triangle patterns reference those seen in traditional African textile designs signifying life. The golden yellow colors represent joy, hope and abundance. Inside the sun is the shape of a compass—in the Pan-African palette of red, black, and green—representing Black leadership paving the way for future generations to rise.
The Latinx@Sprout logomark pulls its shape from the familiar paper flags and table coverings seen in many Latinx cultures. Inside the container, the central element of the floral pattern are coffee beans, nodding to the name Cafecito. The red, orange and green palette emphasizes the community’s connection to nature, and sets a tone that feels warm, celebratory, and inviting.
The LGBTQIA+@Sprout logomark is a modernized, inclusive rainbow flag, showing it led by colors representing Black, Brown, Trans, and Non-Binary identities, the voices at the forefront of both historic and modern-day movements. The flag is in motion, symbolizing the fluid, expansive nature of the LGBTQIA+ community, as well as a nod to activism and the pursuit of progress.
The Parents@Sprout logo takes the form of a heart—the universal icon of caregiving. The interior shapes draw inspiration from children’s building blocks, conveying the idea of integration–that the challenge of a working parent is one of interweaving and fitting many pieces together. The varying shades of red represent the complex range of emotional experiences in the life of a parent, from the tender and joyful moments to the heartbreaking ones. Through curvilinear shapes of the logo are designed to exude the feeling of a strong embrace, both between parent and child, and through the supportive community created by the Parents@ group.
The Underrepresented Genders in Tech@Sprout logomark uses the symbol of a gemstone to convey the unique value that people of underrepresented genders bring to the tech industry. The shape of the gemstone mirrors that of the traditional “power pose,” an underlying nod to the strengths of the group’s members. The gradated color palette of bold pink, magenta, purple and blue signifies gender-fluidity, multiplicity, and expansiveness.
The Women@Sprout logomark employs the metaphor of fibers organically woven together forming a braided circle, the whole of which is stronger than any single thread on its own. The warm, rich hues elevate the expected pink and purple palette into a more natural and mature color system, nodding to the diversity of the group and creating space for women of many identities.