The National Diaper Bank Network (NDBN) is a non-profit organization that provides clean diapers to babies in distress. When we learned that one in three American families faces diaper need every day, we reached out to NDBN to offer pro bono support. We set out to create an identity that would be usable by diaper banks all over the country, helping them raise awareness of the overlooked public health crisis that is diaper need. The new identity needed to be easily adaptable to facilitate adoption among hundreds of decentralized NDBN members. A successful rebrand would strengthen the network, encourage nonmember banks to join, and inspire people to start their own diaper banks—while forcing Americans to take a closer look at the uncomfortable truth behind diaper need.

Millions of U. S. babies suffer from diaper need. But nobody talks about it. So nobody notices it. We called our idea TAKE A CLOSER LOOK: a call for Americans to look under the surface of our society and consider the facts. We compared diaper need to a footnote—an unseen or ignored piece of information. With a new, cohesive brand identity, NDBN could make Americans take a closer look at issues and needs that are being overlooked.

NDBN began with an unbranded style and a semiabstract logo that resembled many others in the nonprofit space. We needed to help them break through the noise and make people take a closer look. We represented NDBN with an asterisk—a symbol that points to unnoticed information. By framing it in red, white and blue, we ask viewers to consider a “footnote” in American society: the overlooked problem of diaper need. The asterisk’s versatility allows us to dynamically activate the NDBN brand. It serves as a logo, graphic element and communication device, with the symbol always pointing to more information. The serif type brings legitimacy and trustworthiness to the brand. Our clean, structured look and feel, violated by vivid depictions of diaper need, implies an ugly reality being papered over. All elements combine to suggest that this social issue deserves a closer look.

Our brief was to tell the story of diaper need in a strong, dynamic way that could reach different audiences in different ways – from donors to the general population to policymakers on Capitol Hill. With a versatile, highly visible identity that could unify the NDBN network, resonate with lawmakers and invite people to confront diaper need for the first time, we went above and beyond what NDBN expected. After the launch of the new identity, US Congresswomen Lee and DeLauro introduced the End Diaper Need Act of 2019, raising the profile of the little-noticed issue. Our new identity had brought NDBN brand relevance to new heights—and compelled people who had never before considered diaper need to take a closer look.