Process
The first thing that’s clear about this project and its founder is that it takes an optimistic, constructive perspective of the problem it was born to solve.
Rather than dwelling on what afflicts the country, its focus has always been about what can be done. Salto–which is Spanish for jump or leap–is about the power of us as a community to remove obstacles. It specifically targets would-be emigrants who have a thoughtful plan to leave the country and opportunities waiting for them, but just don’t have the resources needed to start their journey.
One of the goals of this branding project was to start a conversation about refugees without falling into the institutional clichés of tent camps, borders, or distress. Instead of looking back at the pain left behind, Salto aims to look forward, to the bright future that we can help provide to survivors, and create a community around an optimistic perspective of immigration.
About a dozen different concepts were developed. What felt combined with a simplification of the universally-known shape of a paper plane, what proved to be most effective, both conceptually and emotionally. A bright color palette was developed, and once paired with a clean sans serif typeface with large counters (the areas of a letter enclosed by it, in this case the uppercase A, O, P and R) we arrived at the solution needed: branding that delivers a message of hope. It also covers the basics: it’s recognizable from any distance, versatile so it can be used on many materials, and readable in low-quality prints or low light circumstances.
