The idea of a service year is not new — with programs, big and small, making a tremendous impact in local communities for many years. Young people participating in service years have walked away with essential skills, a new sense of perspective, and a feeling of civic responsibility. At Service Year Alliance, we envision a day where these experiences are a common expectation and opportunity for all young Americans.
In order to make that day a reality, this idea needs a fresh, bold approach. An approach that’s bold, adventurous, optimistic, and inclusive. One that truly represents an experience that’s transformative on three levels — for participants, our communities, and our society.
That’s where the Service Year brand comes in.
Our brand is about emerging adults connecting to something larger than themselves and making an impact in a community. It’s about young people developing essential skills while working on what really matters.
It’s not the typical path; it’s an experience for A Better You. A Greater Us.
The Name
We landed on Service Year because that’s the idea we are advancing and the experience we want to brand. Let’s just call it what it is. Our organizational name is Service Year Alliance.
The name and brand of “Service Year” will live in support of all other existing brands in our field, and not seek to replace any.
Brand Personality
Bold in everything we do – our ideas, our goals, and our vision. This is not the time to be timid or think small.
Adventurous in spirit and how we call people to action in order to be memorable and life-changing.
Optimistic about the future and the role of each rising generation to make it greater for all.
Inclusive of who serves and who we partner with to achieve our vision.
The Logo
We developed the Service Year logo to visually “frame” the experience and convey the journey of personal transformation and community impact. Emerging adults begin at the bottom left, move up through their service year, and finish at a better place with a multitude of skills, a greater perspective, a sense of civic responsibility, and a year of incredible social impact.
The Color Palette
Primary Colors
The primary colors of red and orange convey a feeling of boldness, while also representing an experience that’s inclusive and participatory.
The Tagline
The tagline “A Better You. A Greater Us.” emphasizes the dual impact of every service year: the opportunity for emerging adults to transform their lives and have an impact in their community working on pressing challenges. “A Greater Us.” also alludes to additional benefits of service year: uniting people of different backgrounds, developing leaders, and impacting not just a community, but together, our entire country.
Visual Implementation
The brand centers around the use of reportage photography — a natural and journalistic approach that captures the whole service year experience, not just the service. The brand emphasizes elements of the entire journey — things like moving to a new city, meeting new people, or experiencing new things – in addition to the service.
Visuals will be executed in full-color and black and white. The frame is used to focus on the young person in their journey and other key people they work with and meet along the way.
Service Year Alliance is excited to push forward this bold, new approach to the experience. If you have any questions about the Service Year brand, please contact our Marketing Manager, Cameron Blossom ([email protected]).
Thank You
To the incredible team at SS+K for their wisdom, creativity, and partnership guiding us through this process and arriving at such an inspiring place.
Thanks to Burson-Marsteller and its teams at Penn Schoen Berland and Direct Impact for providing comprehensive market research and communications insights to inform the branding process and our communication work.
