Youth United Logo

Youth United, a new program in St. Lucie County provided by United Way, had an incomplete design concept and needed help to finish it off and make it their own. Kim Reid, the project manager, contacted me and Manny to see if we'd be willing to donate to this worthy cause.

Kim sent over the original concepts, and immediately upon viewing one of them, I saw possibilities. With a few tweaks, the concept was converted into their new identity.

The logo features an all lower-case "youth" above an all upper-case "UNITED". This present the dichotomy of being young and growing up. To further illustrate the youthful nature of the program, I created offset outlines of the word "youth" and used the color yellow for its fill. The offset outline demonstrates diversity, creativity, and the need to stand a part, while yellow is energetic and happy color that invigorates the sentiments.

Within the "o" of "youth", I embedded a symbol of two hands shaking that form another symbol, the heart. This communicates that community and partnership are the core of the program being made available to the youth. The red rays that extend from the "o" in "youth" reflect and emphasize the energy of youth and, in particular, the community partnerships.

"UNITED" is displayed in a strong, san-serif typeface to act as a foundational element to the program – referencing United Way of course. "UNITED" features an outline as well, however, unlike "youth" above it, the outline is in complete alignment with the word, adding to its soldarity and emphasizing the unification of many into one.