MiCreate

Understanding a Mission, Art Directing a Brand

A practicing international human rights lawyer with a background in theatre, Davina's passions came to an intersect with her vision for MiCreate - a digital, nationwide network of legal professionals, entrepreneurial mentors, and artists who could be matched with survivor creators, inventors, writers, artists, and more seeking legal protections or business guidance as they integrate their personal experiences with human trafficking crimes into their work.

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Imagine: An individual survives an experience with human trafficking and decides to turn that experience into spoken word as a healing form of expression and to raise awareness for others at risk of enduring similar crimes. A national conference on human rights asks this artist to participate in a featured performance during the conference, but confusing wording in the contract, lack of appropriate compensation for the performance, acquisition of creative rights, and a number of other behaviors could re-victimize the individual rather than benefit them. MiCreate provides protection, legal counsel, court representation, contract negotiation, and more to help artists advocate for themselves through these scenarios to ensure that their creations - and experiences - remain their own.

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As the Engagement Manager and account lead for the MiCreate collaboration, I was dedicated to understanding and translating the calls for justice, advocacy, and creative expression that the MiCreate brand would need to champion. Simultaneously, the brand needed to balance an approachable seriousness that would appeal to legal professionals seeking to volunteer work. Collaborating closely with client, Davina, our Art Director, Ana, and the team, we underwent a several month journey of brand research, inspiration, mood boarding, sketching, illustration, color psychology, tagline development, website writing and design, and collateral build out for a public launch of MiCreate during January 2020 - National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month.

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Building trust through regular communications, organized timelines, and transparency was the key to a rewarding collaborative experience as the agency's, and my own, first fully-remote long term partnership.