Developing a Successful Brand: The Summer EBT Story

The Summer EBT branding system was created early in our evaluation project. It reinforced Abt’s research while highlighting Summer EBT themes such as “children”, “food,” “possibility,” and “summer.” To speak to these concepts, we chose bright, cheerful shades of yellow, orange, and green. According to Ellen Lupton, author of Design is Storytelling, “yellow is the color of happiness because it is the color of sunshine and waking life.” We also chose typography that is rounded and playful (see below), as is often the case in work describing children. We carried these themes through to the logo, which doubles as both a hopeful rising sun and a healthy food choice—an orange slice. On their own, these brand choices seem unrelated, but together they create a collective voice that speaks to the exciting benefits and the promise of Summer EBT – to make a difference for more than 29 million families across America.

The elements form a brand identity that we implemented for the Summer EBT evaluation throughout the years. For example, we designed unique collage-style imagery that combined illustrated healthy food items, like strawberries and broccoli, with the brand colors as backgrounds. We also used diverse photography of school-age children and the circular patterns found throughout our content, which evoke a playful tone. We designed these elements together to help audiences build an emotional connection between our research and the families impacted by the program. We carried the branding through a wide range of materials, including annual reports, videos, presentations, and interactive executive summary websites. Below are examples of the brand materials that Abt has created over the years:

Branding Guidelines

A “branding guide” is critical to develop early as it creates a consistent standard for the implementation of the brand and is key to ensuring a project team’s alignment within a brand. Our branding guide (bottom left) included a logo (above), color, and typography standards (bottom right). Branding guidelines can include many additional topics, including photography and icon styles.