Sister Roots Identity System

A ground-up identity system for Sister Roots, a local nonprofit that helps women take charge of their own path. Read more about these rad humans at sisterroots.com.

I began by going broad, which netted out three distinct styles: Iconic Minimalism, Human Nature, and Type Rooted.

Narrowing down, the Sister Roots team gravitated towards the Iconic Minimalism direction, with a nudge to simplify the mark further: drop the literal woman symbol (♀) and put the focus on the four elements below that stand for the brand’s work.

That led to the final logo, along with a set of lockups and icons.

Looking at the typography system for the brand, Sister Roots gave the guidance to balance polish with approachability. The primary mark uses Tokyo from Jen Wagner Co., so I tied that to Sister Roots’ content design by using the same bold sans for headlines.

To get the balance I think of as “sophistication with a wink,” I leaned on Georgia, the classic serif by Matthew Carter, and another gem from Jen Wagner Co. called Palmer Lake.