Brand Systems
Committee for Children / Second Step Brand Systems
A brand standards and collateral system for Committee for Children and Second Step, built to help internal teams use the brands more clearly, consistently, and confidently.
- Brand System
- Brand Guidelines
- Digital Standards
- Role
- Marcom Creative Manager / Brand Systems / Graphic Design / Creative Direction
- Client
- Committee for Children
- Year
- 2020
- Timeline
- 2018–2020
- Deliverables
- Brand quick guides, Logo usage standards, Color hierarchy, Typography guidance, Digital brand hub, Collateral templates, Print and digital guidelines, Brand nomenclature, Template system, Legal and trademark alignment, Internal team guidance
- Tools
- Adobe Illustrator, Adobe InDesign, Adobe Photoshop, Frontify, Print production, Digital asset management
Challenge
Committee for Children and Second Step had strong brand recognition, but the growing organization needed clearer standards for how the brands should be used across teams, channels, and collateral types.
Marketing, policy and advocacy, public relations, web, and creative teams all needed fast access to consistent guidance for logos, typography, color, templates, print materials, and digital assets. The challenge was to make the system clear enough to follow, flexible enough for real use, and structured enough to protect the brands as the organization grew.
Approach
I worked with creative leadership to develop practical brand standards for both Committee for Children and Second Step. The work included quick-reference guides, logo naming and usage rules, color hierarchy, typography guidance, template structure, and collateral naming conventions.
I also helped build out a digital brand standards hub in Frontify so teams had a centralized place to find approved assets and usage guidance. The goal was not just to make the brands look better, but to make them easier to use correctly.
The system also included coordination with legal stakeholders to make sure logo usage, trademark rules, and brand applications were aligned with organizational requirements.
Brand System Overview
The system brought together logo usage, color hierarchy, typography, brand guidance, and quick-reference materials so internal teams could work from a shared source of truth.
Digital Brand Standards
The brand standards were expanded into a digital hub using Frontify, giving creative and marketing teams a centralized place to access rules, assets, templates, and usage guidance.
Collateral and Template System
The brand system extended into repeatable print and digital collateral, including sell sheets, policy materials, product materials, and internal templates that needed to feel consistent across teams.
What I owned
- Helped establish brand standards for Committee for Children and Second Step.
- Created quick-reference brand guides for internal teams.
- Defined logo usage, nomenclature, color hierarchy, typography, and collateral rules.
- Built and maintained digital brand standards in Frontify.
- Supported template and collateral systems for print and digital materials.
- Worked with creative leadership, legal, marketing, policy, advocacy, public relations, and web teams to improve consistency.
- Helped create a more usable brand foundation for future campaigns, product materials, and internal handoffs.
Why it mattered
The work gave internal teams a clearer, more consistent way to use the CFC and Second Step brands. Instead of relying on scattered knowledge or one-off decisions, teams had practical standards that supported faster decisions, cleaner handoffs, and stronger brand consistency across channels.
Impact
- Created a centralized brand standards system for CFC and Second Step.
- Improved consistency across marketing, policy, advocacy, PR, web, and creative materials.
- Supported repeatable collateral and template systems.
- Helped protect brand integrity through clearer logo, typography, color, and trademark guidance.
- Created a stronger foundation for future campaigns and product communications.