Community Action Organization of WNY, Inc.
Reimagining how an organization looks, communicates, and tells its story.
A comprehensive transformation spanning brand identity, website design, digital systems, media infrastructure, video production, and documentary storytelling.
REBRANDING & VISUAL IDENTITY
Creating a clearer, more unified identity.
The rebranding began with a redesign of CAO’s visual identity, creating a stronger and more consistent foundation for how the organization presents itself.
The work included a redesigned logo, color system, typography, and brand guidelines that brought the organization’s communications together under one recognizable visual language.
Rather than treating the logo as a standalone design project, the identity was developed as a system that could work across CAO’s website, video, digital communications, printed materials, and other organizational needs.
LOGO DESIGN EVOLUTION
The CAO logo was inspired by ideas of community, hope, empowerment, safety, and family. Early research explored familiar symbols such as a hand, bird, home, and sun. The final mark brings these ideas together through an open hand suggesting support, care, and connection while the flowing shape also gives the identity a sense of movement, optimism, and possibility.
FROM OLD IDENTITY TO NEW BRAND
ANIMATED LOGO IDENTITY
The animated logo extends the visual identity into motion, giving CAO a more dynamic and recognizable presence across video content, presentations, digital campaigns, and social media. It creates a consistent branded opening or closing that helps connect different pieces of content back to the organization.
BRAND GUIDELINES
The brand guidelines created a clear system for how CAO’s identity should be used across print, digital, video, presentations, signage, and other communications. The guide established standards for logo use, color, typography, layout, and visual consistency, helping different teams and programs present CAO as one unified organization.
WEBSITE REDESIGN & DIGITAL SERVICES
The redesigned website was built to do more than present information. It became a practical digital platform for both the organization and the communities it serves.
The work included donation integration, online forms, program and service information, contact and intake pathways, and tools that made it easier for visitors to take action directly through the website. The goal was to reduce unnecessary steps, improve access to services, and create a more connected experience between CAO’s communications and day-to-day operations.
The website also provided a stronger foundation for campaigns, video storytelling, announcements, and future digital growth.
STRATEGIC STORYTELLING THROUGH VIDEO
Film helped CAO share its work through real people and real stories—building awareness, trust, and support across the community.
VIDEO STORYTELLING — MEET THE PEOPLE
Meet the People was created as an ongoing storytelling series focused on the people behind CAO.
Through short, interview-driven videos, staff members shared their experiences, their connection to the organization, and the work they do in the community. The series helped put real faces and voices behind CAO’s programs while creating a growing library of authentic content for the website, social media, recruitment, and community outreach.
AGELESS WONDERS — MULTIMEDIA STORYTELLING PROJECT
Ageless Wonders was created to celebrate the lives, creativity, and experiences of older adults participating in CAO’s senior program while also helping demonstrate the program’s value at a time when it had lost federal funding.
The project grew into a larger storytelling campaign that included a full documentary, a podcast series, and Memento Vivere, a photography book featuring portraits and personal stories from program participants. Together, these different formats created a deeper picture of the people behind the program and the role it played in their daily lives.
The project was presented as part of a fundraising event for the senior program. Copies of Memento Vivere sold out during the event, the film helped attract new donors, and the project gained the attention of the Secretary of State in Albany, contributing to increased support for the program.
THE FILM
At the center of Ageless Wonders was a documentary built around the voices and experiences of the seniors themselves.
Rather than simply describing the program, the film focused on personal stories, creativity, memory, and the relationships that gave the program meaning. Interviews and observational footage were used to create a more intimate portrait of aging, community, and the importance of having spaces where older adults can remain active, connected, and seen.
The documentary became the emotional centerpiece of the larger campaign, helping audiences understand the value of the senior program through the people who experienced it every day.