IAP Foundation focuses on philanthropy
Reorganized nonprofit updates its name, brand, and foundational communications materials to reflect its updated mission.
Problem
Rebranding an established organization from an arts organization to a foundation
Solution
A custom brand that that emphasizes the organization’s new priorities
Backstory
The International Art Project started in the early 2000s with an art purchase. Its founder, Daniel Gupta, met Nicaraguan artist Jonaton Espinoza and began collecting Espinoza’s work. As their friendship developed, Gupta hatched a plan to use the proceeds from art sales to invest in philanthropic projects in the artist’s home country.
A decade later, Gupta reorganized the organization so that the nonprofit portion, which would become International Art Project (IAP) Foundation, could focus on fundraising for community building projects. The art business would become the for-profit Gallery Elysian, and its proceeds would help support the foundation.
A team lead by Write Design Group Partner Kelly Carnahan created a visual and written identity for IAP Foundation that reflects the resourcefulness of the organization and the positive impacts its projects make on the communities it serves. The reimagined brand supports the organization’s new philanthropic focus by providing a consistent verbal and visual messaging framework that is optimistic, human, knowledgeable, trustworthy, and filled with gratitude.
Objective
WDG collaborated closely on the project with IAP Foundation’s Amy Colclesser and the organization’s leadership team.
“As someone with extensive marketing experience, I was looking for a partner who could not only understand our mission, but also the challenges we faced in communicating our innovative commitment to tangible projects, full transparency, and donor community,” Colclesser said. (Read the full quote.)
The process included the development of a new logo, visual language, messaging strategy, and verbal identity. The launch of the new identity coincides with the opening of IAP Foundation and the Gallery Elysian in a new building in 2025, signaling renewal for the organization as it welcomes the public into its space.
Results
The brand strategy, developed by the in-house team, renamed the organization and defined its vision, mission, and values. WDG took that information and developed the verbal identity, teasing out the organization’s personality (how it acts) and voice (how it speaks and appears). To guide staff and vendors on voice, WDG developed a voice chart and key messages that consistently address its values and common questions.
“The voice chart shows how to communicate in words the characteristics of celebratory, hopeful, human, and trustworthy,” said WDG Partner Jim Stowers. “The examples of words and key messages highlight the personality of the IAP Foundation brand and support the values of the organization.”
The visual identity was based on the same voice traits.
The previous logo was dense, and presented in unsaturated primary colors. By contrast, the new identity is elegant and lively, celebratory and optimistic.
“We sought to create an identity for IAP Foundation that reflects how it brings together philanthropists and impactful, community-building projects. The forms in the new logo are open and they interlock, reflecting the concept of coming together,” says Carnahan.
WDG combined the interlocking symbol with the typeface Rufina from TipoType, headquartered in Montevideo, Uruguay. The wordmark portion of the logo was drawn with the organization’s full name, its abbreviated name, and a special version for merchandise. In support of the logo, WDG created a full-spectrum color palette to portray the organization’s vibrancy and to visually connect it to Gallery Elysian.
The new system comes to life in brand expressions that range from elegant and refined to impactful to resourceful. WDG designed cohesive formats for newsletters, social media, fundraising materials, and apparel.
