Call for Proposals — Brand Designer

< Back to open positions

The deadline for applying to this role has passed.

We’re looking for a designer to create a new visual identity for Simply Secure (name change is on the way!).

Application deadline: January 21, 2021

The project

  • We’re looking for a designer to create a new brand identity for Simply Secure. In summer 2020, we decided that we needed a new name and a new identity in order to continue doing, and communicating, our work effectively.

  • Instead of doing this work internally, or engaging an external partner to create our identity for us, we are leveraging a co-design process. With support and mentorship from Una Lee of And Also Too, we’ve engaged an advisory committee composed of a diverse group of people from our community who know our work and are invested in our future to help. We’ve also engaged our broader community for feedback, and shared about the process as well as what we’ve heard so far on our blog.

  • We expect you to build off our current identity redesign process by proposing a visual identity based on our new design brief, and then developing a brand book and design system.

  • You’ll propose, create, and deliver an identity and design system including but not limited to:

    • Brand book

      • Personality
      • Tone
      • Brand story
      • Brand metaphor

    • Design system

      • Logo, Logotype
      • Typography
      • Type scale
      • Color palette
      • Imagery
      • Examples of application
      • Guidelines for usage (dos and don’ts) including guidelines for accessibility

    • Templates

      • Social media graphics
      • Slide deck template
      • Document templates (letterhead, report template for clients, case study template for public)
      • Business card design
      • Merchandise, e.g. stickers

Timeline

  • This is a time-limited contract, starting in late January 2021.
  • One of our next workshops is scheduled for February 4 at 2-4pm ET / 8-10pm CET.
  • In addition, there will be 1-2 co-design workshops in late winter/early spring 2021.
  • We expect, and hope, the overall process to be finished by summer 2021. However, since this project has many stakeholders, we can be flexible with timing. Even if this timing doesn’t work exactly for you, if this seems like the right project for you, please get in touch.

About us

We are a small US 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, founded in 2014 with the goal of making security tools easier to use. We believed – and still do – that security doesn’t have to be confusing to end users. We’ve contributed design to a variety of tools that enhance security, such as Tails to I2P to NoScript. We’ve held salons and a residency around designing for security. But we’ve done a lot more than usable security. Just in the last year, we’ve launched a decentralization pattern library; a report on trust and transparency in nonprofit funding; a campaign to save internet freedom tech; a community around human rights centered design; a series of videos about trust and responsibility in design; and much, much more.

About you

  • You love designing identity systems and understand how to wield their power. You get really excited about using imagery, color, layout, and type to tell a visual story.
  • You design expressive and accessible screens, logos, and colors, meant to be viewed on the web.
  • You like working independently, in collaboration with a fully remote team.
  • You are comfortable advocating for yourself and your work to make sure that you’re getting what you need from us.
  • You are excited about being part of our community-driven design approach. You think it will be fun and interesting to use these workshops as part of your process. It’s okay with you that we are coming up with a new name in parallel with creating a visual identity.
  • You are able to meet with us during our core hours of 2pm to 6pm Central European Time / 8am to 6pm Eastern Time / 7am to 3pm Pacific Time.

Nice to have

  • Awareness of one or more of the following areas: open source software, internet freedom, tech criticism and activism, human rights
  • Experience with, and/or interest in learning more about, co-design processes
  • Expert in communicating with international audiences
  • Knowledge of accessibility standards
  • Experience with, and/or interest in, naming organizations

Sound like a good fit?

Please send us:

  • 3-5 examples of your work. Please highlight the projects with turn-around times of 3-6 months and tell us about the timeline and process: how did these projects get created? Who was involved, what did the process look like, how long did it take?
  • A (very short!) outline of how you would approach working with us on this project. What phases would this project have, and what would you need from us to make it successful? (We are not looking for design directions yet, so please don’t feel the need to pitch us any suggestions. We’ll need some time together to bring you up to speed on our co-design process and our design brief.)
  • 1-2 references. References will be contacted in the last phase of application review.
  • The times you are available for meetings within our core hours.
  • An estimated budget for the project.

Send these documents to jobs-brand@simplysecure.org. We will be reviewing applications on a rolling basis. We will stop accepting applications on January 21, 2020.

If you intend to submit a proposal, but are unable to do so by the deadline, please reach out to us.