2026 Grassroots DesignFest
One day. A team of creative strangers. And a Baltimore non-profit with a design problem they were perfectly selected to fix.
If you’ve never heard of MICA’s Grassroots DesignFest then I am delighted to introduce you to it. Exactly as it’s name implies, it’s a one day design fest that pairs Baltimore area nonprofits with volunteer designers and students to help create a solution for a creative problem they are having. It could be drafting a new website, wayfinding signage, brand guidelines, or even new logos. That’s where I come in.
My team’s goal was to help Arts Every Day, a nonprofit that supports art programs in Baltimore City Public Schools. They recently had a rebrand thanks to a local agency but their programs they run needed a matching facelift. So we had existing fonts and colors to stay within, but 3 unique programs that needed their own identities.
As a team we collaborated in Figma to build moodboards for each program and then divided our design time into quick sprints for each concept. We picked our favorites to refine and my concept for the BMORE Youth Arts Advocacy Council ended up being the winner! I took the lead on refining the typography, building out the logo lockup and small-scale acronym mark, and even had time to fit in an icon asset library.
Pretty impressive for a one-day design marathon.
Design Skills:
Team Collaboration, Figma, Logo Design, Typography, Design Thinking, Branding Strategy, Fast-Paced Designing, File Organization, Using Existing Brand Assets
Deliverables:
Logo Files for 3 different programs:
BMORE Youth Arts Advocacy Council
10×10 Exibit
Curate!NOW
