SoCal NOMA Project Pipeline 2020 Summer Camp

Client:

National organization of Minority Architects - Southern California Chapter

Services:

Logo Design, Visual Identity, Brand Identity, and Product Package Design

Year:

2020

Assignment:

In 2002 NOMA National began to establish Project Pipeline, a national initiative aimed at exposing black students to architecture with the ultimate goal of creating more licensed black architects. SoCal NOMA continues the mission to expand the program’s reach and empower all youth to affect change with the annual Architecture Summer Camp for students 10-18, and the year-round Architecture Bootcamp for high school students. In these programs, campers are introduced to people, professions and ideas that make the architecture industry as they work at varying skill levels through a curriculum that addresses community-focused issues with practical design tools and techniques. This project takes on theme each year with a full collection of graphic elements to support the event. We were fortunate to work with them annually in 2018, However, in 2020, the event took on a unique challenge: to have the Summer Camp “virtually”. Although it seemed impossible, the event was an oversall success.

Task:

Design and create all the branded materials needed to make the 2020 SoCal NOMA Summer Camp “virtual version” go as smoothly as the in-person version.

Solution:

The Socal NOMA client is literally as far away from Miami as possible, but confidence, experience and contectivity closes the gap. Having worked with the NOMA Summer Camp project for two years, we were up to the challenge. Designing for a virtual event in the middle of the pandemic seemed impossible if not risky, but the registration numbers proved it. The virtual version was just as successful as the previous in-person one, exceeding everyone’s expectations. The process began as always with a logo to build the event around. There were several presentations to get the ball rolling, but the team finally settled on one design.
The “Double-X” design was presented in various color schemes before the final winner was the scarlet red version. We created both vertical and horizontal versions of the final design, and proceeded to create all the product designs for marketing and support materials.
Once the products were printed, the process of distributing everything from a central set of locations worked like a charm. Volunteers signed up in droves and stepped up to support the program more than ever. Registered participants, while arriving to pick up their kits, were safe, masked, and eager to get rolling. The font family used was PF DinText Pro. Its versatile weights made it the all-in choice for all 2020 products.
The Summer Camp headquarters was set up to handle the process and the staff was on point with organization and distribution. Students interested in creative and technical design will benefit from the knowledge and exposure to professional mentors. The spirit and legacy of the camp continued through the virtual platform, offering fun and excitement with Introductory & Advanced Classes for middle school students and an intensive Architectural Boot Camp for high school students.
We continued to work with the NOMA chapter through the 2021 camp until our contract was up, but we always cherished the opportunity to work with events that focus on youth and the future.

Client feedback:

I worked with Sam Grant for almost 10 years on various projects which ranged from organization branding & graphics, event marketing campaigns, expansive websites to a full-on virtual camp & digital expo which showcased our most exciting work. On all of these projects we collaborated long distance and in those 10 years I have only met Mr. Grant once. We found common ground and times to collaborate despite the 3-hour time distance in our schedules. We scheduled coordination meetings at the top of the week, gave ourselves a few days of working time then shared results made comments then meet again until the final produce was accepted. One of the projects that we are most proud of that resulted from our collaboration with Mr. Grant was our 2020 Virtual Summer Camp. We were in our 10th year of hosting an in-person summer camp for inner city youth when the pandemic hit. We were determined to figure out a way to still have camp and bring hope and joy to youth stuck at home for the summer. We got to work on a digital platform for our curriculum and need the branding and graphics to make it fun and exciting. So, we turned to Sam for his expertise on how to display and digitize our activates. Together we were able to make the transition to a full virtual version of our camp and to create a digital expo for the campers to display their work. This was the most challenging media and graphics project we had ever engaged in but Mr. Grant made not only the transition smooth, but the final result left us breathless. We worked with Mr. Grant on all things marketing and graphics from organizational branding, establishing our virtual identity to web design he did it all for us with excellence.

Eletrice Harris

Director, SoCal NOMA Summer Camp