nyc delta gamma alumnae chapter
Brand Identity, Website Design
My membership in Delta Gamma has been a defining part of my adult life. I joined the WashU chapter my second semester of college have been involved ever since. I served on both levels of chapter leadership when I was at school, then served as two different positions on the board of the NYC alumnae chapter over the course of nearly 5 years post-grad. Although I was able to balance being on the exec board of NYC DG and being the Member Education advisor for the chapter at Columbia, after deciding to take on the role of Advisory Team Chairman (head advisor) I knew I had to step back from the alumnae chapter before I literally became DG-dead (if you know, you know).
BUT I didn’t want to leave without a parting gift. At the 2020 convention in June, Delta Gamma released an overarching rebrand of the entire Fraternity and it sparked the idea of doing the same for the alumnae chapter. In exchange for a big donation to our foundation partners in lieu of my standard fee, I designed a full brand for NYC DG that links it to Delta Gamma but also takes into account the kind of women that actually make up the chapter’s membership,
about the client
The NYC alumnae chapter of Delta Gamma represents ~1,500 alumnae from all walks of life who now live in New York City. Although there are sisters of all ages, the active membership tends to skew younger in line with the large number of recent graduates who make the move to the city after college.
project goals
➵ Create a branding suite that helps the NYC chapter present themselves to the larger community
➵ Establish a link to the larger Delta Gamma Fraternity rebrand while creating a unique identity for the group of women in NYC
getting started
At the beginning we evaluated a couple of different directions we could take the rebrand in, which boiled down to whether we wanted to lean in a more soft and supportive tone or stand out with something a little more bold. We ended up going with the latter and choosing to play up the bright, youthful vibe the group tends to attract as the heavily-involved women tend to be more recent graduates. With this came the decision to focus the brand on “NYC DG” which is the more informal name the chapter tends to use as opposed to the longer/more formal “NYC Delta Gamma” or “New York City Alumnae Chapter of Delta Gamma” to fit with the direction the brand is going to take.
The brand keeps one of the 3 main DG Fraternity colors “DG Pink” as a primary color and also takes 2 secondary colors from their rebrand as well. Those are balanced by a poppy red and deep gold to help the suite maintain a youthful and fun but elevated feel.
brand adjectives
bold • strong • powerful • energetic • fierce
final logo and marks
The final logo takes cues from the larger Delta Gamma rebrand but makes it fit the NYC alumnae chapter. It pulls together some iconic New York imagery (the Big Apple and heart from “I HEART NY”) and combines them with visual callbacks to the rebrand in its colors, typeface, and cutout elements. Its lettering uses the Tropiline brand font, but makes some subtle tweaks to create an over/underlapping cutout effect and enhance the design’s playfulness.
The logo is complemented by a secondary logo using only type and with an apple taking the place of the heart, with the apple and anchor combo serving as an additional mark as needed.
additional assets
The rebrand was rolled out across every facet of NYC DG: Facebook, Instagram, newsletter and their website nycdg.com. With the new website also came a new store with merchandise available exclusively to dues paying members of the chapter–a portion of proceeds also go to Guiding Eyes for the Blind!
