brand identity, communications design, social media mgmt, social organizing, print design
June 2023
Companies like Vital thrive off the labor of their many frontline workers.
During my time at the Vital Climbing Gym in Williamsburg, we found that Vital management was not responding to the pressing questions employees had around wages, safety, and insurance. In the interest of developing new industry norms for the nascent climbing gym economy and the betterment of our workplace, we decided to pursue unionization. My role was focused on all external matters— communication with gym members, media, and local politicians. The strength of graphic design lies in its core as a medium of presentation, and this rebrand was conducted to bring the identity of our union in line with its historical roots and future outcomes.
VTC Martin was created by Vocal Type Foundry by referencing posters created for the Memphis Sanitation Strike of 1968. In their own words:
"Memphis sanitation workers, the majority of them Black, went out on strike on February 12, 1968, demanding recognition for their union, better wages, and safer working conditions after two trash handlers were killed by a malfunctioning garbage truck.”
This type directly ties into the history of unionization and protest.
Media Coverage
EMPLOYEES AT POPULAR WILLIAMSBURG'S VITAL CLIMBING GYM MOVE TO UNIONIZE, Brooklyn Paper
'ABSOLUTELY THRILLED': EMPLOYEES AT WILLIAMSBURG'S VITAL CLIMBING GYM VOTE TO UNIONIZE, Brooklyn Paper
VITAL CLIMBING GYM EMPLOYEES IN WILLIAMSBURG VOTE TO UNIONIZE, Greenpointers
