A Blade of Grass
A Blade of Grass (ABoG) was founded in 2011 to support artists as conduits for social exchange and to deepen our understanding of socially engaged art. Since then, the national organization has restructured, transitioning governance to a paid board of artists and arts workers. To mark this monumental change, ABoG enlisted Team to develop a new brand strategy and visual identity that introduce their new position as a values-driven, artist-led organization committed to nurturing socially engaged art holistically.
Team worked with ABoG to reconceptualize their brand identity, creating a welcoming voice and dynamic expression rooted in collective care and shared power. Informed by community interviews and workshops, the brand strategy distills the organization’s renowned radical spirit of collaboration as artists and arts workers into a singular brand idea: desire paths.
As ABoG moves beyond traditional boundaries of a closed institution, the new visual system explores new paths and embraces imperfection. An expressive typographic approach to GT Planar utilizes a wide range of italics and retalic weights that bend and break conventional typesetting rules while maintaining legibility and accessibility. Designed to be in motion, the logomark uses distinct letterforms to communicate the organization’s playful approach to experimentation and growth.
Documentative photography captures the artist through an authentic lens and pairs with ambient imagery that evokes the textures and visuals of natural pathmaking. In the new web experience, a 12-column grid system staggers imagery, content, and type to express directionality — giving the user the freedom to walk off course and explore as they see fit.
The result is a flexible system built for interaction, allowing A Blade of Grass to emerge as a leading artist-centered organization that can grow and evolve alongside the community it serves.
Numerous community interviews and collaborative workshops with A Blade of Grass drew a common thread in their network — a belief that creativity and art can be a shared resource to change lives.
Paved roads show us where we should go, but desire paths are made when we step off the road and let our hearts decide the way.
Where there was nothing, a new way appears — a reminder of the relationships we form and the network of care that is fundamental to collective and individual transformation.
