Responses by Lee Hoddy, executive creative director, Conran Design Group.
Background: The nonprofit organization Dance Can Do had ambitions to grow into a global initiative, but in order to attract the necessary funding from corporate sponsors and public entities, it needed a brand that stood out and relayed its message: dance can have an immeasurably positive influence on mind, body and soul for disadvantaged young people. Dance Can Do’s projects unite communities, such as the displaced children in the Ritsona refugee camp in Greece, and bring moments of joy to children and their families, such as those receiving treatment at the Necker–Enfants Malades Hospital in Paris. These moving stories underpinned the work we did from the outset, and it was important to us and to founder Aurélia Sellier that the new brand conveyed dance as a force for good.
Design thinking: Our creative solution focused on showcasing dance as a catalyst for change. It’s about the impact of dance as much as the artistry. Using the empowering “dance can” statement, we positioned the organization as a transformative force, showing how dance enriches lives, unites communities and drives meaningful impact in society. The visual identity needed to reflect that sense of momentum, so we immersed ourselves in the genres and practices of the dance community to understand how we could capture dance as an artform and active storyteller. Our new logotype conveys that dynamism with every letter. Inspired by a variety of dance expressions and movements, it radiates energy and personality. We also introduced three key themes for photography that would allow Dance Can Do to repurpose its existing image library, which were the impact dance has on young lives, the power of collaboration and the artistry of professional dancers.
Challenges: The arts are incredibly rich and inspiring as a subject, with so many references for creatives to draw from. The real challenge in this project was having too many ideas and possible avenues at the outset, which we had to repeatedly edit, filter and streamline to get to the truest, most impactful iteration of the Dance Can Do brand. It was a case of stepping back and making sure that what we had produced wasn’t just cool and creative but was also representative of the nonprofit’s mission. Always front of mind was the fact that we needed our end result to work hard for the organization, who, unlike other well-funded arts orgs, doesn’t have big marketing budgets to help them cut through the noise.
Favorite details: I’m most proud of the logotype—it’s the beating heart of the project. We were keen to avoid the usual tropes and trends of the category, and we didn’t want to overcomplicate it with additional symbolism, abstraction or decorative mark making. It was important that our logo represented the subject but felt original. The name is a powerful asset, so we wanted to put that front and center of both the solution and the system and let it do the work.
To get there, we immersed ourselves in Dance Can Do’s projects, exploring dance genres and breaking them down to their most fundamental elements—the shapes, the postures and the movements. These inspired a rich vein of exploration for each character.
Each letterform is beautifully crafted to represent a foundational dance move or position, stripping it back to the fundamentals of movement and spanning the postures of dance genres. The final logotype captures both the elegance and the electricity of dance in a way that feels immediate and alive, and the supporting elements of color and imagery reinforce the positivity and optimism in the support Dance Can Do provides to young communities across the world.
Specific project demands: What made this project easy was our wholehearted belief in the impact of the work. You’re trusted by founders to make a difference, and that trust is so critical to project success. Sellier’s story was a huge motivator for us—the work was serving an important cause. That kind of energy is captivating and, like dance itself, it triggers an emotional response. We were unequivocally behind the cause, and that inspiration converted into a tenacious pursuit of the solution.
This energy transferred to rich, expressive ideas immediately—almost too many. This is what made it difficult. Knowing what to hold onto and what to let go. But Dance Can Do had a clear job to do: connect and cut through, perform across channels with limited resources, stop a sponsor mid-scroll, and spark a conversation to lead to support and, ultimately, funding. That helped us drive down the path with the most impact and efficacy, arriving at a solution that is artful, energetic and purposeful.
Alternate paths: We’re all super proud of the work and remain inspired by Dance Can Do’s mission, so we have no regrets. If anything, we’d just love to get more creatives involved. The visual identity serves as a brilliant brief to capture the pivotal role that dance plays in society, culture and the arts, and there’s an opportunity to extend that further. Given the movement at the heart of the solution, we’d welcome photographers and filmmakers to document the work they do and continue the idea.
Browse Projects
