"It's the first time we'll all be together again since before the pandemic, so I really want this booklet to capture a nostalgic feeling of just getting to be with your people again, you know?"
I wasn't really sure how a printed booklet for a gathering of leaders could communicate that feeling, but I trusted the vision of my client enough to try!
They already knew they wanted an image for the cover, rather than a graphic of some sort. They had a logo, and a title for the conference, and shared the Adobe InDesign files from the last gathering in 2019 so I could have the building blocks to work off of as I updated it for 2023. But the rest of the decisions, they left up to me.
Growth Resourcing Group (GRG) is an international leadership network that provides support, encouragement, and accountability to organizational point leaders and their core teams, and I'm lucky enough to attend the church where the founder of GRG preaches and leads the staff.
I went with soft mixes of blues and greens to create a sense of calm professionalism, strong, modern sans-serifs mixed with a vintage-vibe serif, plus an approachable handwritten accent font, and a few subtle topographical textures to illustrate the idea of a "big picture journey across a varied landscape". A bit of adventure, but still well-suited for a button down shirt under a North Face vest, you know what I mean?
The team loved the design enough to ask for the hex numbers and font files, so I went ahead and shared the branding assets with them so they could theme the rest of the conference's visuals to fit.
I loved this project! Working with Keith and his team at GRG to create the booklet for their first year back gathering with friends and co-leaders from all over the world was a really special experience. I'll forever be grateful for the time they spent collaborating with me on the booklet, and inviting me to join them at their conference! If you ever get a chance to connect with the folks at Growth Resourcing, I highly recommend it.
A few weeks after the GRG Gathering, Keith emailed me with a request to add the branding from the conference to a white paper he was publishing on their website. This was an obvious, easy "yes" from me, especially after the incredible experience with the Growth Resourcing crew at their conference.
Check out the article on their website here. (Oh yeah, and I designed their website. But that's for another blog on another day.)
P.S. - Keith and team hired me again to brand their GRG Gathering 2024, too! Read all about it here.
Sarah Rosie is a freelance branding photographer and designer in Dallas, Texas. She's got your back on creative projects for your small business or nonprofit.
Contact her at sarahrosiestudios.com/contact/ to get started on your creative project today.
