It is outstanding to me the young age from which girls are made to feel ‘less than’ their male counterparts. And as a young female myself, it feels all too relatable to feel as if you are ‘not good enough’ to do certain things. It is also all too clear that there is a societal norm that we are teaching young girls what they “can/can’t” or “should/shouldn’t” do. Project Fearless is an amazing initiative that has big plans to help combat these issues within gender inequality for girls, and it was an absolute pleasure to work with them back in mid-2019.
I worked closely with Jess and Nat from Mac + Moore, as well as Founder Mérida Miller on the brand positioning and visual identity for Project Fearless. From the offset, it was so clear the widespread impact that Project Fearless could have, and to me it was so important that the identity reflected this. I worked on three initial concepts for the identity before developing the final route that now forms the identity of the business.
As a designer I always have meaning and a core concept rooted in my work, which is what I believe helps to bring real impact and longevity to a brand. The concept behind the identity for Project Fearless was rooted in the idea of ‘finding your fear.’ It is all about fitting in, yet standing out. Project Fearless is what you make it and is personal to you. You are part of a group and a wider movement, but also developing yourself as an individual.
The brand concept is rooted in the idea of building and connecting which is reflected in the type styling of the logo. It also alludes to the idea of being ‘cutting edge’ and going against the norms. The identity also utilises triangles which are known to be the strongest shape. The identity uses the letter ‘F’ for Project Fearless as a symbol of difference.
It was also important to me to develop an identity that had an element of interactivity within it. So that the girls who join Project Fearless can really feel as if they are part of a wider movement and helping to build and shape Project Fearless as it grows. The identity does this through a number of touch-points that can be coloured in, painted and personalised. For example, the notebooks can be made personal to each individual but also very much part of the Project Fearless brand.
