Anatomy of a Brand

Brand Strategy
Written By kate gordon

Rockbridge Area Relief Association (RARA)
Storytelling Through Identity Design

When the Rockbridge Area Relief Association approached a milestone year, leadership recognized a gap: the community knew RARA as a food pantry, but not as the region’s most comprehensive emergency assistance organization. The task wasn’t to redesign a logo. It was to reshape perception.

The Perception Gap

Founded in 1972, RARA serves Rockbridge County and surrounding communities by addressing hunger, housing instability, and financial emergencies. Yet public awareness centered almost exclusively on the pantry. The brand needed to:

  • Preserve community trust

  • Expand understanding of services

  • Reflect dignity and compassion

  • Support both clients and donors

This was more than cosmetic.

RARA needed strategic repositioning.

Defining the Brand’s Core

We anchored the identity in RARA’s stated beliefs and then built the system outward:

  • Everyone deserves nutritious food and safe shelter

  • Everyone deserves kindness and dignity

  • Community interdependence is essential

The brand would need to communicate:

  • Stability

  • Optimism

  • Accessibility

  • Trust

The logo system was intentionally modular. Four colored blocks frame the wordmark representing the multi-faceted nature of RARA’s services.

Each color carries meaning:

  • Blue — Stability, trust, reassurance

  • Green — Growth, health, generosity

  • Yellow — Hope, optimism

  • Lime — Community and confidence

The architecture reinforced the message: RARA is more than one program. Rather than a single static mark, the system allowed services to stand independently:

  • Neighborhood Grocery

  • Housing Support

  • Utilities Assistance

“Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.”
— Quote Source

Voice as Structure

The tone framework was defined as:

  • Friendly

  • Welcoming

  • Inclusive

  • Compassionate

  • Reassuring

We translated this into:

  • Plainspoken headlines

  • Clear service descriptions

  • Donor-facing transparency

  • Client-centered language

Governance and Scalability

The brand guide established:

  • Clear-space rules

  • Scaling limitations

  • Monochrome usage

  • Incorrect application examples

And ensured the identity could scale across:

  • Print collateral

  • Email signatures

  • Merchandise

  • Digital platforms

Impact

The work positioned RARA not only as a pantry but as a community safety net. The refreshed identity:

  • Expanded awareness beyond the food pantry

  • Strengthened donor understanding of full services

  • Reinforced dignity in client-facing communications

  • Created a unified visual system for long-term growth

kate gordon
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