Ideal Impact
Ideal Impact

Turning News Into Action

Nonprofit Branding & Identity

Project Details

  • Organization

    Ideal Impact

  • Founder

    Olivier Kamanda

  • Date

    Summer 2014

Civic-tech startup turning news into action for social impact

The Ideal Impact app project aimed to create a mobile application designed to facilitate positive social and environmental change, allowing users to easily discover, support, and engage with various charitable and sustainability initiatives, all within a user-friendly and interactive platform. Foundational creative exploration served as the cornerstone for the entire Ideal Impact digital project, laying the groundwork for establishing a unique and compelling brand identity that would define this innovative news startup's digital presence and set the stage for its growth and recognition.

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Identity

During the Ideal Impact branding process, a diverse range of initial logo concepts were explored, featuring creative ideas like playful "I" interpretations, double "Is," and depictions of impactful moments. These concepts spanned non-profit, institutional, and academic aesthetics, evolving organically through three rounds of presentations and discussions. Ultimately, a concept featuring three exclamation marks, with two inverted marks forming the double "I's" in Ideal Impact, emerged as the chosen design. Its simplicity, elegance, and touch of irreverence made it a perfect fit.

Grid of initial logo concepts
Grid of exclamation mark concepts

Progress towards a final logomark

Development

The Ideal Impact app functioned by bridging news articles with actionable steps, enabling readers to connect stories with tangible actions. To reach a broad audience, the app was developed for both iPhone and Android platforms, catering to the majority of smartphone users and facilitating meaningful engagement with news content.

Ideal Impact - Example screens in mockup
Ideal Impact - Example from the app store

Initial concepting for the Ideal Impact app before MVP development began

App development for Ideal Impact began without a defined brand identity. However, once the comprehensive brand identity, complete with clear color schemes and visual guidelines, was established, the chosen logo was seamlessly integrated into the evolving app. This marked a pivotal moment in aligning the digital platform with the organization's new vision.

Ideal Impact - Example app flow

Examples from the app development progress

Launch

The debut of the Ideal Impact app was characterized by a swift and substantial surge in awareness, with the platform quickly grabbing the spotlight through coverage in news articles and experiencing remarkable viral success shortly after its initial launch.

To sustain its growth beyond the startup phase, a crowd-sourced funding model was introduced, leveraging the brand's early success to seek initial funding and propel the transition beyond the initial launch.

Ideal Impact - Ivy Magazine
Ideal Impact - Voices of Social Change podcast
Ideal Impact - Crowd funding

Marketing efforts included blog coverage, podcast appearances and crowd sourced funding

Ideal Impact's initial success as an experimental venture underscores readers' increasing desire for integrated, informative content seamlessly combined with actionable engagement via digital devices. This highlights the importance of ongoing experimentation in the news industry, with the potential for more initiatives like Ideal Impact to emerge and explore this evolving news model further.

Ideal Impact logo image fill variations
Ideal Impact identity guide cover
Ideal Impact app mockup

Final deliverables provided ongoing guidance for the development of the app and brand

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I’m currently leading the User Experience team at Taoti in Washington, D.C.

As Director of UX Design I'm looking after (and growing) an innovative, lean and effective team that delivers value to our clients. Get in touch with me to discuss speaking engagements and other professional opportunities.

My full work history is available on LinkedIn at btiny.link/linkedin

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