Today, we’re unveiling a new logo and refreshed branding for the Asian Law Caucus.
In our 52 years, ALC has had several different logos. Some logos were designed by our staff and volunteers and emphasized our local ties. Others evoked a more legal tone. Most recently, we’ve been proud to carry the Asian Americans Advancing Justice logo.
Now, as we take our mission of community lawyering for racial and economic justice to the next level, our new logo and brand gave us an opportunity to honor our history and make a statement about our future and enduring commitment to community struggle and civil rights activism.
How We Created Our Logo
While we won’t detail every deliberation to make each color, curve, and line just right, we’re delighted to share a behind-the-scenes look at our design process.
This story starts back in 2022, when Bay Area locals W. Kamau Bell and Kate Schatz published Do the Work! An Antiracist Activity Book. For the cover, they used a typeface named after Bayard Rustin and inspired by signs from the 1963 March on Washington.
W. Kamau Bell was the keynote speaker at our 2023 anniversary gala, and as we talked about his most recent work, we were reminded of the beautiful fonts in this book and the creative force behind them - Tré Seals and his design company Vocal Type.
This year, we started chatting with Tré and learning more about his process of designing fonts based on protest signs and civil rights movements. As he’s explained, “when you think about protest, it’s people in the streets carrying signs…these signs were made to be used once, and by taking them out of that realm and putting it into a font revives history.”
Tré generously agreed to take on a pro bono project for ALC, and we got to work digging into archive storage boxes. We pulled out examples of ALC’s logo across the decades and photos of ALC staff at countless protests, rallies, and community gatherings.
Filipino and Chinese tenants sit outside the I Hotel. These community members were part of a 9-year campaign for housing justice in San Francisco.
Asian Law Caucus and Asian Law Alliance staff protest the Weber v. Kaiser Aluminum & Chemical decision. L-R: Gene Tom, Sam Yee, Don Tamaki, Mike Wong, Steve Doi, Kelvin Gong, and Debbie Lim.
ALC staff join a major protest in 1984 against the Simpson-Mazzoli Immigration Reform and Control Act. ALC and many other groups organized for years, calling attention to how the legislation eroded long-standing civil and constitutional rights.
In the end, Tré created ALC Sans, a custom font that melds together signs, banners, and posters from ALC’s past and present. As he walked through how each letter of ALC Sans is rooted in the joyful imperfections of different homemade signs and posters, Tré told us the typeface is inspired by ALC’s history, our achievements, and our connection to community.
We then worked with San Diego-based design studio, Raygun, to create an icon inspired by one of ALC’s earliest logos. Together, the icon and font form a new logo that captures ALC: energized by our history and resolved to keep fighting with our clients and communities.
Using Our Logo
In the coming weeks and months, you’ll see our logo and branding in more places, from banners and posters to legal filings and petitions. Our community advocacy team is designing new hoodies so that you’ll be able to easily spot us at local events. And, for ALC supporters at our gala this September, stay tuned for some special treats to commemorate this moment.
If you need help using our logo, please reach out to us at [email protected].