Be Equitable

STUDIO

For The People, 2023

CONTRIBUTION

As Mid Weight Designer
Brand identity
Motion

RECOGNITION

D&AD Awards
Wood Pencil – Illustration
Wood Pencil – Brand Refresh (SME)  

AGDA Awards
Pinnacle – Design for Good  
Distinction – Brand and Identity  
Merit – Brand Expression    

Best Design Awards 
Gold – Design Craft Illustration  
Silver – Large Brand Identity    

Brand Impact Award 
Bronze – Professional Services

Good Design Awards
Gold – Branding and Identity  

Transform Awards ANZ
Gold – Visual Identity  
Gold – Copywriting    

Featured
Brand New
The Brand Identity

TEAM

Strategy
Damian Borchok, Matt Pearce

Storytelling:
Mat Groom, Arielle Bodenstein

Design
Jo Roca, Alexis Waller, Atsaya Gabiryalpillai, Georgia Urie, Emma Turney, Cassie Ciccarell  

Account
Mabel Tu

Collaborators
llustrator – Edward Ubiera

Typefaces
BE Martin – Tré Seals
Erode – Nikhil Ranganathan
Pretendard – Hyung-jin Kil  

Amplifying and inspiring powerful progressive voices

Be Equitable (formerly, ‘Cook Ross’) is on a mission to build a more inclusive, diverse, equitable and accessible world – starting with the workplace. Offering consulting, strategy and training services to clients like NASA, Nintendo, Oracle and Verizon, Be Equitable has helped businesses to realise the power of difference and cultivate workplaces where everyone can be. Over the past thirty years, they’ve developed a reputation as leaders in unconscious bias training; a program developed by their founders and favoured by clients across the country.

But by 2021, it was clear they could be doing more.

In the US and throughout the world, the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement sparked conversations about equity. In this new political climate, businesses made public commitments to reassess their practices and restructure their organisations, while ESG standards were updated to include racial equity frameworks. The appetite for change was high. But if businesses were going to make meaningful progress, a one-off training session wouldn’t be enough. They’d need a long-term, strategic partner experienced at driving systemic transformations. Be Equitable was committed to taking on this role.

Guiding this new approach was Michael Leslie Amilcar – an Afro-Latina and Be Equitable’s new Owner and CEO. Having been with the company for over 15 years, Michael knew what would be required to build on Be Equitable’s history and redefine its future. To make this happen, she reached out to For The People to help evolve the business from a company named after two white practitioners and known for unconscious bias training, to one that celebrated a truly diverse and passionate collective of individuals, dedicated to doing the work.

With a new leader, a new mission and a new name, we set out on a collaborative journey to help Be Equitable become the leader the world needed them to be.

Finding meaning in the messy process of change

After a particularly challenging few years, businesses were reaching out to organisations like Be Equitable in the hopes of finding a quick fix for inclusion, diversity, equity, and accessibility (IDEA). But complex problems don’t have simple answers. From institutionalised racism to invisible privileges – the issues Be Equitable hoped to address require difficult, ongoing work.

But amongst the feel-good phrases and staged imagery, the complex, uncomfortable and messy process of systemic organisational change was not honestly reflected in the category. Appealing to businesses with promises of ease wouldn’t get Be Equitable where they wanted to be. Instead, they needed to motivate others to set out on that difficult journey, by proving that it was more meaningful and more impactful than a quick fix could ever be. For that to happen, we needed to show that inclusion, diversity, equity and access aren’t problems waiting to be solved. They’re opportunities waiting to be unlocked – a chance for individuals to reach their full potential, whether in the workplace or out in the world.

An identity shaped by adversity, built on optimism

This attitude to the work was already well-established at Be Equitable. Over the course of the project, we witnessed the way their team responded to mass-shootings, hate crimes, and the violation of reproductive rights. Instead of being overwhelmed by these events, Be Equitable remained a proactive force, thoughtfully navigating through each new challenge. Their approach was inspirational and uplifting, but it wasn’t being reflected in the way they represented themselves. Instead of relying on toxic positivity and promising quick fixes, we needed to capture the spirit of Be Equitable and express it to the world.

We initially drew upon the history of activism, taking cues from protest posters and grassroots publications. Whilst these styles matched Be Equitable’s outspoken and courageous attitude, they didn’t reflect the compassion and warmth that made working with them so special. To find the right balance, we couldn’t just take inspiration from what came before. We needed to instil a sense of optimism for what could be. Using an earthy, organic colour palette and a bright, candid approach to photography, the design system evolves from its historical roots to create something that’s challenging, yet inviting.

Authentic diversity, illustrated

The best way to find a new approach is to seek out new perspectives – which is why we collaborated with New York based artist, Edward Ubiera, to develop Be Equitable’s custom illustrations. Instead of relying on literal representations, these imaginative and intentionally imperfect forms are a glimpse into a possible future – an equitable world where difference is the norm and individuals are free to be. We embedded these illustrations into a type format to make it easy for anyone at Be Equitable to use. By combining the alphabetic elements with the symbolic ones, we created a pictorial style of writing – with a slight nod to ancestral scripts. Bringing phonograms and ideograms together, Be Equitable is able to write figuratively, symbolically and phonetically all at once.

A typeface inspired by history, advocating for the future

“Be Martin” is part of a larger story. Designed by Washington-based typographer, Tré Seals, the expressive typeface is a variation on “Martin” – also developed by Tré and influenced by a history of non-violent protesting. The original Martin is inspired by the ‘I AM A MAN’ posters carried during the Memphis Sanitation Strikes of 1968 and is named after Martin Luther King, who was assassinated the night after delivering a speech in support of the cause. Interchanging Martin with its expressive variation allows Be Equitable to communicate impactful messages, in an optimistic and uplifting way.

We continued this approach when developing other key elements of the branding, ensuring we celebrated the skills and perspectives of a diverse group of creatives. For example, support typefaces “Erode” and “Pretendard” were sourced from typographers based in India and South Korea. Both fonts prioritise legibility and are suitable for multilingual typography, ensuring the words of Be Equitable can be read by all.

A brand built by many

By working with Be Equitable, we reconsidered terms we had used unconsciously, discovered tools to mitigate bias, and recognised how far our industry still has to go to include creatives from diverse backgrounds. Through this process, we were reminded of the most important lesson of them all: the value of vulnerability.