Photograph of Meyer Memorial Trust's business cards laying in a stone bowl.

Pacific Northwest foundation Meyer Memorial Trust was in the midst of a seismic change to how they approached grantmaking. They needed a new brand story and identity that matched this new era. 

In 2015, Meyer was at the forefront of shifting their philanthropic approach toward an equity lens. As they changed the very basis of their grantmaking, they partnered with us over 3+ years to rethink and redesign their brand strategy, image, positioning, voice, and website. The new brand identity we developed conveyed Meyer's core values: equity, collaboration, humbleness, innovation, and transparency. Our main focus was ensuring that we were serving Meyer’s key audience — the nonprofits that rely on the support of philanthropy to create impact in Oregon. 
Meyer’s new logo represents hope, with a gently rising pathway (it's also an M). Instead of using sharp angles that could be forbidding, we created a more approachable mark that signaled a dynamic movement forward.

a deep dive

New conversations

Over three months, our discovery work took us into conversations, interviews, and workshop sessions with dozens of people inside and outside of the organization, including all members of the staff, the Board of Trustees, and grant partners all over Oregon. We delivered a comprehensive insights report that set the stage for a new strategy.
a hand places a sticky note on a whiteboard full of scribbled sticky notes.
Meyer Memorial Trust employees gather around the whiteboard to vote on brand workshop materials.
Talie Smith, CEO of Smith & Connors, smiles at the camera while standing next to Scott Smith, Strategy Director. They are looking over the Meyer workshop materials after the event.

Shifting Meyer’s positioning

Meyer was an institution in Oregon and its branding at the time felt institutional. With a mountain of data and primary research at hand, we framed up a new way for Meyer to present more accurately as the responsive and dynamic organization that it is. Our strategic repositioning became the underpinnings to differentiate it as a leader working together with its grantees toward a better and more equitable Oregon. 
A matrix showing Meyer Memorial Trust's competitive landscape. The matrix items are rated from contemporary to traditional, and dynamic to solid.
a gif rotating through the personality driver key words for the Meyer brand.
A few of the logo concepts that were not used for Meyer Memorial Trust's rebrand.

Connecting all brand elements

A brand has to be cohesive across media and channels to be credible. We worked closely with Meyer to redesign all elements of their communications materials, from photography direction to a new color palette to typography, print, and digital channels, including a new website and multiple email newsletter templates. 
A group of Meyer Memorial Trust employees volunteering in their branded t-shirts.
The back of the Meyer-branded t-shirt reads "every day is mission day."
A group of Meyer Memorial Trust employees volunteering in their branded t-shirts.
A photograph of a Meyer brochure redesign.
A mockup of the mmt.org homepage
The new Meyer Memorial Trust brand guidelines.
We designed a clear, simple brand guide so that Meyer’s small communications team could easily create what they needed.
Notepads for each of the Meyer Memorial Trust funding areas.
Notepads are a beautiful and simple way of making sure that communications stay cohesive.
a variety of Meyer collateral laying flat on a light grey surface.
Each of Meyer’s portfolios got its own color treatment to make it very easy to communicate messaging and differentiate the priorities.
a flatlay of a report by Meyer Memorial Trust
We helped Meyer communicate its leadership in connecting the economic development dots for the Oregon community.

A new way, a clear message

One of Meyer’s first events after they launched their new brand was a series of meetings for the nonprofit community all around the state. We developed materials for them, including a brochure with details for each of their portfolio areas. There was no more important goal than to help the community understand how to access resources and partner, so we created clear, direct, bold materials to help Meyer usher in this new era.
a photograph of a brochure design for Meyer Memorial Trust.
a photograph of a Meyer Memorial Trust branded nametag.

Smith & Connors brought more to Meyer's branding and website redesign than creativity, expertise and professionalism. Working with them has been a true partnership. We hired them at the tail end of an organization-wide redesign, a moment filled with both uncertainty and promise. They got us from the start. The logo they designed isn't just a pretty image and the website they created isn't just an elegant portal: both embody who Meyer is and the equity we are striving for.
Headshot for Kimberly A.C. Wilson

Project Scope

  • Brand Guidelines
  • Brand Strategy & Messaging
  • Core Messaging
  • Logo Design
  • Naming
  • Positioning
  • Print & Collateral Design
  • Signage & Environmental Design
  • Visual Identity Systems
  • Voice & Tone Guidelines
  • Change Management
  • Interviews
  • Staff Engagement
  • Surveys
  • Workshops & Focus Groups
  • Audience & Channel Analysis
  • Campaigns
  • Communications Strategy
  • Copywriting & Content
  • Email Newsletters
  • Marketing Assets
  • Photography Direction
  • Presentations & Pitch Decks
  • Social Media
  • Content Development
  • Content Strategy
  • Digital Tune-Ups
  • Documentation
  • SEO Strategy & Optimization
  • Web Design & Development
a photograph of a person carrying a propane tank, their back to the camera with the CoEnergy propane logo on the back of their jacket.
a collage of various social media posts we designed for CoEnergy Propane

Let’s make something great together.