visual design
The Situation
Unhack Democracy is undergoing a transformative process, reaching a stage where it became essential to express and reinforce this change through the creation of a new visual identity. The primary platform for this expression is their website, making the web design process the foundation for revamping the brand’s identity.
Personal notes
I strongly believe that a good design process not only express but also shapes the overall organizational strategy. It encourages clients, who may not have a design background, to think more holistically by re-examining their ideas visually as well after having articulated them in words. This process acts as an iteration itself of strategy-building’s mental and emotional process.
Visual Identity
The democracy sector’s visual identity is often characterized by formality and an overload of information, while youth political organizations tend to adopt a bold, confrontational tone. To stand apart, we focused on playfulness and experimentation in Unhack Democracy’s new identity.
I built upon the existing brand and refreshed it to create an “interim identity” that reflects the organization’s current focus and attitude, helping them explore and solidify future directions. Therefore, playfulness and a sense of experimentation became central elements.
In my research, I explored how human rights and environmental sectors use powerful imagery and emotion-driven design to connect with audiences, but found it resource-intensive and accessible only to large organizations with dedicated photographers.
Website
In UX, we typically evaluate design artifacts, such as websites or brands, from the user’s perspective: does it communicate effectively with the target audience, and what message does it convey? However, in this project, the process was more deeply integrated into the organization’s internal strategy development.
Despite focusing on clarifying identity, embracing authenticity, and prioritizing internal alignment over external communication needs, I introduced foundational UX concepts like user personas and journeys to the client, encouraging them to use these frameworks while developing content.
