Freeform Portland is a volunteer-led, community radio station based in Portland, Oregon. It broadcasts on the airwaves and online 24/7 365 days a year. It is an awesome testament to a community's love of music and connection. With over 75 DJs, each creating their own show artwork and promotional material, it becomes a quite unruly space to manage from a consistency perspective. Whilst a DJ there I helped them to herd the proverbial Brand cats and create a visual anchor for the station.

Because of the enormous variety of music, shows and artwork the approach needed to be very simple. An update to the logo from Cooper Black to Exposure gave it more contrast and room to breathe, rotating the text rather than flipping it gave it greater legibility and opportunity for playfulness. Keeping the black and white colour scheme made sense in order to create neutral territory for artwork to exist against, I created a simple banner that could be applied across all desired formats and lock-ups that direct people to the radio handle or website.

The exercise helped to speed up the time that the volunteer designers spent on creating marketing material across an increasing amount of formats whilst leaving show-runners free to be freeform with their artwork. It gives clearer visibility and creates consistency for the station which is especially important around fundraising drives and recruitment. The overall effect is a tiny slice of professionalism amongst the wonderful DIY nature of community venture.