What it had to solve
Show the strength of the global network of people documenting human-rights issues and update the 'make the truth visible' mission for the smartphone era.
The idea
Make the identity out of people's eyes: tight crops of reportage photos in a halftone dot, changing constantly, as the courage of seeing and filming.
How it works
Pearce set the wordmark in Akzidenz Grotesk Medium, moved it closer to the tagline 'See It, Film It, Change It', added an 'optimistic' palette next to the charity's orange, and used halftone-dot photography to even out varied image quality.
What it did
It's Nice That reported the identity launching on 10 December 2019, World Human Rights Day. No results were given.
Background
On World Human Rights Day, 10 December 2019, Pentagram partner Harry Pearce launched a new identity for Witness, the charity formed by musician Peter Gabriel in 1992. It first gave cameras to people in 60 countries to document rights issues; today it trains human-rights defenders to use video safely, effectively and ethically, and researches how technology such as deepfakes affects rights.
The idea is to highlight Witness's mission to 'make the truth visible' for a time when everyone has a smartphone. The typographic logo uses Akzidenz Grotesk Medium and sits closer to the tagline 'See It, Film It, Change It' for a more dynamic construct. Pearce added an 'optimistic' colour palette to complement the recognisable orange.
Campaign visuals use reportage photography from around the world, including tight crops of eyes in a halftone dot effect. Pearce called the constantly changing eyes the central part of the identity. The halftone evens out the quality of the worldwide photography while giving the identity bold graphic energy.
Why it lands
Smartphones put a camera in everyone's pocket, so the charity's founding idea needed updating.
Photos come from a worldwide network and vary in quality; a halftone dot unifies them.
Eyes carry the energy of the people who see, film and share, often in dangerous situations.
Pearce had worked with Witness since 1993 and sits on its advisory board pro bono.
What you can take
When your images come from many hands and cameras, a single graphic treatment can unify them and give the brand its voice.
Since then
It's Nice That's report was of the launch day and gave no later results.
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