Brand Identity Design for The Collective Newsletter

The Collective was a startup newsletter delivering bite-sized political and world news to a younger generation of readers. With a tagline like “A newsletter for a new generation,” their mission was clear: give 20–30-somethings quick, unbiased news without the noise of opinion pieces or spin. As a new venture, they needed a brand identity that communicated clarity, credibility, and relevance—without feeling stale or overly traditional.

To bring The Collective’s mission to life, I created a brand identity that blended boldness with grit. The visual system pulls from traditional news cues—like a red, white, and blue color palette and a sharp, serif typeface reminiscent of legacy publications—but subverts them with unexpected accents of pink and baby blue, halftone textures, and hand-drawn underlines and circles. This mix of polished and imperfect helped strike a balance between credible and current.

The typography paired a dramatic serif with rugged, human touches to feel grounded and youthful. And by giving red and blue equal visual weight, the brand subtly reinforced its commitment to political neutrality.

The end result was a news brand that felt trustworthy without being boring—and modern without losing its journalistic roots. The team loved the final brand and used it consistently throughout the lifespan of the newsletter.