2023

Third Act

Creative direction, brand voice, and digital strategy for Bill McKibben’s newest project, Third Act, a national climate justice movement led by Americans over 60.

Role

Creative director
Art director
Design program manager
Visual designer
Communications strategist

I’m wearing many hats for this project, from high level direction to hands-on implementation.

I’m also directing a junior designer, a communications associate, two campaign strategists, and a developer at Third Act, as well as commissioning external artists, photographers, and videographers.

Challenge

Developing a brand identity while simultaneously promoting a large, public-facing iniative.

Third Act is one year old. At the outset, it had a beautiful logo and visual identity designed by Collins. But with next to no internal design capacity, it was largely abandoned.

I came aboard in December to steer the ship back towards the original design intent by expanding the brand guidelines, codifying a brand voice, developing plug-and-play templates for web and social, and creating a cohesive communications strategy for the central organization to reach prospetive members and supporters.

Oh, and to design and implement campaign materials for an imminent national Day of Action!

Third Act is a nationally distributed coalition of Americans over 60. They are largely organized through working groups by location and affinity.

As such, I discovered that brand assets had made their way through a game of DIY design telephone, reulting in rogue websites, sub-branded logos, and off-tone copy. I realized quickly that I would have to yield a certain amount of quality control, letting some fires burn while we build a new house.

So, my aim is to shore up the central organization’s identity and voice in a concentrated effort to grow brand recognition, while simultaneously building internal capacity that will ripple out to the volunteer-led working groups.

I also endeavor to increase representation of elder Americans in online spaces. Third Actors are the heart and soul of the organization’s work, and I want their voices to be front and center.

Before: no consistency, too much text, visual chaos

Social

With a big National Day of Action planned for March 21, 2023, I put some elbow grease into Third Act’s social media channels so that there was a “there there” when new visitors landed.

Because Third Act’s demographic skews older, social media hadn't been leveraged effectively as a tool for audience growth or engagement. There is a huge opportunity for reaching the next ring out from Third Act’s main audience: to their kids and grandkids and youth activists.

I churned out content that was formatted correctly for the best experience and performance, like vertical videos and higher quality images, and text-lite graphics.

I designed and created templates for standardized content, like event announcements and working group launches, as well as some simple graphics for digital campaigns.

The majority of Third Act’s own image library is from protests, which don’t tell the hollistic story of the organization. Additionally, when overused, become less impactful and less legible.

I used typography as the main visual content for these evergreen templates, lending a sense of balance and information hierarchy to Third Act’s feeds.

Feb 22–March 23

Social media insights (all organic)

Total Followers +39.5%

Accounts engaged +829%

Accounts Reached
+2,468% (42.9K)

Highest performing reel
21.1K views (previously 3K)

Additionally, Third Act’s mailing list grew from 35K to 50K.

Uplifting intergenerational interactions. Ohio University student André at a Third Act protest.

Highlighting celebrity endorsements. Senator Bernie Sanders for Third Act.

Amplifying authentic representations of older Americans. Third actors Claudia and Edward, Denver, CO (and their cat!)

Storytelling

My goal is for the general public to see themselves reflected in Third Act’s content.

Third Act had produced a few promotional videos. Because they were longer in length (~5 min), horizontal, and heavily branded, they didn’t perform well on social. The juice wasn’t worth the squeeze.

I pivoted towards creating shorter, first-person clips that would have more milage, positioning Third Act as a community, rather than an institution.

I wanted to largely avoid slick and over-produced video content while maintaining some editorial rigor. The aim here is to find a middle ground, where providing direction can enhance the homegrown quality of user-created videos, not subsume it.

When working with high-profile Third Actors and celebrity endorsers, I wanted the content to read as genuine as any other user-created media. Videos by actors Bette Midler and Jane Fonda, singer Carole King, senator Bernie Sanders, writer Rebecca Solnit, mountain climber Kitty Calhoun, and ocean conservationist Wendy Benchley, fit seamlessly within the stories and experiences of our audience.

Break Up with Bad Banks social media and email campaign assets

Break Up with Bad Banks
Valentines Day Campaign

Five weeks out from the National Day of Action, I used Valentine's Day as the launch for new and in-process brand assets.

I collaborated with an external designer on a series of graphics to accompany Third Act’s “Banking on Our Future Pledge,” which encourages big bank customers to move their money away from institutions that continue to finance new fossil fuel projects.

Through this creative development work, I added a tertiary typeface to Third Act’s branding that created more opportunities for dynamism in type-centric graphics.

This campaign was a chance to develop subsideary graphics while evolving Third Act identity. It was also a trial run of sharing visuals with partner organizations for a cross-instituional campaign.

This 1 week project yielded ~7,000 new signatures to a pledge that had been active for over 6 months, for a total of 17,000 pledges.

Third Act branded promotional assets for the Day of Action

National Day of Action
Promotional graphics

The National Day of Action comprised 100+ events and actions with 50+ partners across the country protesting the 4 big banks, Chase, Citi, Wells Fargo, and Bank of America.

Because this was a deeply partnered initiative, I wanted the promotional graphics to embody Third Act’s brand identity without relying on the logo, so partners could use them on their own channels, creating a drumbeat of recogonizable content and preventing the dillution of individually branded content.

1/4 page B&W handout developed from commissioned artwork

National Day of Action
Artwork

For the physical protests and demonstrations, it was important that there be Third Act presence, but without being overly corporate or uniform. When it comes to capturing press and public attention in street activations, variety is truly the spice of life!

Third Act had commissioned social movement artists in the Third Act network to create artworks and easy-to-follow templates for the public to create handmade signs, banners, cloth patches, and other props. I pulled from these elements to create printed hand-outs and flyers for the day.

Art kits made their way across the country where local action organizers engaged their participants in art builds and practice events to build anticipation and visual material for the day-of.

Select press
3.21.23

NEW YORK TIMES
A ‘Rocking Chair Rebellion’: Seniors Call On Banks to Dump Big Oil

WASHINGTON POST
Why seniors are blocking entrances to the four largest U.S. banks

THE GUARDIAN
‘We have money and power’: older Americans to blockade banks in climate protest

NPR
Climate activists target nation's big banks, urging divestment from fossil fuels

SMITHSONIAN MAGAZINE
‘Rocking Chair Rebellion’ of Senior Citizens Joins Climate Protest

DEMOCRACY NOW!
“Stop Dirty Banks”: Bill McKibben & Ben Jealous on Ending Big Bank Funding for Fossil Fuel Expansion

INSIDE CLIMATE NEWS
OK, Boomer, Your Turn. Older Americans Blockade Banks to Protest Fossil Fuel Financing