DRAGONFLY COLLECTIVE
A NEW LIGHT IN MEMPHIS
BRAND ︎ FOR DRAGONFLY COLLECTIVE
12. 2017 ︎ 01. 2020
Memphis, Tennessee is a city with problems to solve. Luckily, they’re also a city with an open mind and eye for innovation. Dragonfly Collective has poised themselves at an intersection of a series of social and cultural challenges and has been creating programs and companies that are actively reshaping life in the city for thousands of citizens.
As the primary creative with Dragonfly, I’ve been fortunate to build the outward facing identities for their endeavors. You can see a little bit of what we’ve been up to below.
Art Direction & Design: Jake Lerman
CD: Jarad Bingham and The Dragonfly Team
︎ A COMPREHENSIVE PLAN
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︎ THE HOSPITALITY HUB
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Memphis has one of the highest rates of street level homelessness in America. Dragonfly has been working hand in hand with city officials to come up with solutions that work well on their own but work better together.
Through a combination of outreach, intake and longstanding support networks, Dragonfly is weaving new technologies into community centric programs to make big changes fast.
︎ THE HOSPITALITY HUB
Memphis already has a great network of institutions that support the homeless community. However, many people experiencing homelessness don’t know how to gain access.
For more than 15 years The Hospitality Hub has been connecting the city’s resources with the people who need them in a caring and compassionate way. My contributions to their longstanding efforts have begun as they are building their largest facility yet.
︎ SEE WHAT THE HUB HAS IN STORE
︎ A SELTER: FOR WOMEN
The shelter sysystem is failing the women of Memphis. Violence, and lack of access has kept women in need of a bed out on the streets. Thanks to the data gathered by Dragonfly the need could be quantified - 30 beds could make all the difference.
Getting this message expressed clearly to the people in a position to enact the change was my challenge. With simple geometry, clear typography and compelling photography, Memphis is on it’s way to providing a safer shelter system for women.
︎ A NEW TYPE OF CARE
Palliative care is misunderstood. Not simply a battle against the symptoms, a palliative mindset asks a doctor to consider the whole patient and their larger life goals when considering the appropriate treatment.
A leader in the field, DR. Jeanne Jemmison need a way to express these nuanced ideas and ideals in a clean and clear way. It was a pleasure to lend my hand to her great efforts.
︎ MUSIC FOR EVERYONE
Memphis a music city plain and simple. By partnering with Memphis Jazz Workshop Dragonfly was working to make sure it stays that way.
By giving kids access to the equipment, education and inspiration necessary to build a lifelong appreciation and career in the arts Dragonfly and MJW are helping build the next generation of world class musicians.
︎︎︎ PLAY WHERE YOU STAY
Soccer is the global sport. Played in vacant lots and empty fields by people of all social and economic classes the world over. Yet, in America due to prevalence of expensive youth soccer leagues the passtime has begun to exclude some communities.
Play Where you stay ahs been working to shift the focus back to where it belongs. By bringing the essential supplies a a dedicated staff right into the underserved neighborhoods themselves they;ve managed to get kinds back out side playing with their neighbors in their neighborhoods. It’s an honor to help tell this story.
︎ SEE WHAT THE PWYS TEAM IS UP TO
︎︎︎ THE M HOTEL
What if you could take a trip to Memphis and stay in an architecturally stunning home? What if that home was made of shipping containers? What’s more, imagine that your stay helped pave the way for the same caliber housing, with the same privacies and luxuries, to be available to those in need shelter.
It may all still be a vision today, but it’s well on it’s way to reality in Memphis. A reality which I helped articulate through brand development, decks and promotional tools.
︎︎︎ RECLAIMING THE NARRATIVE
The story of cannabis in America is sad and can read like a primer on the racial dynamic of our nation. In this new era of legalization, a group of entrepreneurs in Memphis are working to develop a pathway for the communities most impacted by over policing and unjust prosecution to find a place within this new marketplace.
To help this endeavor I worked to develop a face for medical use cannabis company that wasn’t stuck under the wight of old tropes.
︎︎︎ IT’S ALL DOWNHILL FROM HERE
In what might be the perfect metaphor for the current state of affairs in Memphis TN, the gravity race is a community gathering around innovation, creativity and fun. It moves fast and uses nothing to propell itself beyond its own strength.
Memphis has done the hard part to address it’s challenges by simply deciding that it’s time to make a change. With groups like Dragonfly putting their minds to the task it’s easy to see things picking up speed.