northwest center

Brand Identity | Brand Architecture | Brand Strategy | Naming | Experience Design

GOOD EGG GRANT RECIPIENT 2021

Founded in 2003 as the Northwest Side Housing Center, our second recipient of the Good Egg Grant came with more than one challenge to solve.

What began as an anti-predatory lending task force, today the NWSHC offers financial counseling, community activism, and, as a result of COVID-19, health equity and rapid response services to more than 2,000 residents a year in Chicago’s Belmont Cragin neighborhood. The organization needed a new name to convey the full breadth of their current work, as well as a vibrant and distinct brand identity that accurately represents the relationship-driven, multi-cultural community.

The result—Northwest Center—features a bright palette and flowing continuous line balanced with a structured grid system and an honest tone-of-voice that communicates stability, community, and connection.

What’s in a name?

The new name—Northwest Center—is surprisingly simple. It maintains familiarity and recognition of the former name while eliminating misperceptions that the organization’s work is limited to housing. The new name is forward-thinking and will serve the organization as it continues to evolve its work to respond to the ever-changing needs of its community.