In collaboration with Neighborhoods Now - a community-led pandemic recovery program for NYC, led by the Urban Design Forum and Van Alen Institute, we partnered with 82nd Street Partnership to create a visual identity as vibrant as the community it represents. This new identity bolsters the organization’s mission and well-positions them for grants, funding, and improvement goals.

82nd St Partnership is an award-winning neighborhood development organization for Jackson Heights and Elmhurst, Queens. The partnership exists to improve the quality of life and support business growth by creating a cleaner, more welcoming and sustainable neighborhood for everyone. A diverse community, comprised of 160+ businesses across food, fashion, entertainment, and professional service, 82nd Street is one of NYC’s most lively and authentic market streets. With residents speaking over 160 languages, Jackson Heights is rich in culture. The vibrancy of the community and the street itself inspired our design concept for the new visual identity.

The logo is flexible and dynamic. The yellow street line can change to feature photography, text, flags from different countries, and pride organizations represented in the neighborhood. The flag, image, or keywords are always at the center of the logo just as the people are at the heart of the community. Our color palette is inspired by the street with our primary colors as black, white, and yellow. An extended color palette honors the countries represented on 82nd Street - from red inspired by Peru and a dark green from the Bangladesh flag - these colors bring vibrancy to the design system. Various color combinations keep layout possibilities fresh.

The iconography collection was designed to complement various events and local initiatives - a way to further develop the visual language and organize content in memorable ways.

The entire visual identity is based on a grid system built on the street line – creating modular blocks of content mixed with color, type, imagery, and icons. The strip can expand and contract in response to the layout size and content.

Role: Design Directo Studio: MA’AM Lead Designer: Jessica Cullen Designer: deLana Fernandez