VIRGINIA DOWN SYNDROME ASSOCIATION
Advocating for individuals with Down syndrome with the help of new designs and cohesive branding.
Challenge
The Virginia Down Syndrome Association is a statewide nonprofit providing support to individuals with Down syndrome and their families. In addition to enrichment and social programs, educational tools and community building, the organization also advocates for policies to be passed that can further benefit those with Down syndrome. Our team was brought on board to provide comprehensive marketing support including digital strategy, PR and graphic design. In October of 2022, the organization underwent a renaming and rebranding, creating a further need for graphic design support.
Our Approach
With their new branding in place, we worked to design print and digital pieces for them that evoked a playful nature but still remained professional and appealing to individuals of all ages. We also provided standalone branding they could use for years to come for major events like their “Dancing with the Local Stars” Gala and T21 Golf Tournament, both annual fundraisers.
Result
As a result, we were able to create a large suite of materials for the organization to use for events, fundraisers, newsletters, social media and more, all with cohesive and attractive branding.
Event Marketing
Challenge
The Virginia Down Syndrome Association is a statewide nonprofit providing support to individuals with Down syndrome and their families, including direct services, job training, educational programming, support groups, and financial assistance. VDSA hosts more than 20 fundraising, educational, and social events yearly to sustain the organization’s operations and engage new families. Such events include the Virtual Speaker Series, T21 Golf Tournament, and StepUP for Down Syndrome 5K & Family Festival.
Due to the high demand for event marketing, our firm needed to provide substantial design support throughout the year for sponsorship packages, brand kits, logos, social media graphics, and flyers.
Approach
Our experience in designing high-quality digital and print assets to create a visually compelling presence for events ensures clients can reach their desired goals.
For the Virtual Speaker Series – a four-night, virtually accessible series designed to empower, educate, and connect caregivers and allies of individuals with Down syndrome – Shannon Strategies was tasked with designing the logo, multi-medium social media graphics, and a multi-page sponsorship packet that would be distributed as a hard copy and digitally.
With branding already in place, we were able to get creative with the color combination, ensuring that the logo would be easily associated with VDSA’s overall brand identity.
Logo Design: To emphasize virtual sessions, we incorporated a laptop into the logo design. The design also incorporates the silhouette of Virginia and the heart from VDSA’s logo. The fonts are consistent with VDSA’s brand fonts and ensure the name of the series is dominant
Results
Through thoughtful design and creative branding, our team created a cohesive visual identity for all of VDSA’s events, ensuring that all designs are timeless – in print and digital production – and able to be easily updated for future sessions.