Legacy or longevity?
This is the tension that The Trinity Forum was living in when they approached our team at Amenable. The nonprofit specializes in binging the best of Christian intellectualism to a wider audience, drawing on classic literature, policy experts, and artists to promote the idea that every Christian can be equipped to thoughtfully participate in difficult cultural conversations. When the organization’s leadership first reached out, they simply wanted templates for social media graphics, but our relationship quickly shifted into a case study on why branding is so important.
In our early conversations with The Trinity Forum, it became clear that the organization’s vision didn’t fully align with its brand presentation. A quick glance at their website showcased a veritable treasure trove of lectures, written resources, and videos from some of the most prolific intellectuals at work today. The challenge, however, was that these materials were not reaching one of the audiences who needed them the most—young people. This is why branding is so important—the organization was making a concerted effort to reach more people by enlisting our social media support, but it didn’t change the fact that the brand itself wasn’t quite clicking.
In our early conversations with The Trinity Forum, it became clear that the organization’s vision didn’t fully align with its brand presentation. A quick glance at their website showcased a veritable treasure trove of lectures, written resources, and videos from some of the most prolific intellectuals at work today. The challenge, however, was that these materials were not reaching one of the audiences who needed them the most—young people. This is why branding is so important—the organization was making a concerted effort to reach more people by enlisting our social media support, but it didn’t change the fact that the brand itself wasn’t quite clicking.
Risk vs. reward: Why branding is important for
long-term impact
long-term impact
In an atypical Amenable move, we decided to develop a reimagining of the brand and pitch it, just to see if it resonated with leadership. In the original logo, three ornate crowns evoked trinitarian imagery while also suggesting an institutional formality, much like what one would associate with a university. It might best be described as austere, but it also seemed to hold people at arm’s length. For casual viewers, if you weren’t a particular type of intellectual, it would be easy to think that The Trinity Forum wasn’t for you.
In our logo rework, we simply streamlined the crowns to function more as icons, something that would be easily identifiable on any device or printed material. The clean and simple lines of the crowns in the reimagined logomark depict the clarity that The Trinity Forum’s core values bring when they shine brightly into culture. Likewise, the classic serif typemark exemplifies timeless truth, and its approachability represents engaging with the big questions of life to educate and equip leaders to think, work, and lead wisely.
Much to our delight, the alternate logo was exactly the sort of shift The Trinity Forum was looking for. It avoided the radical upset of a full rebrand, but it still indicated a clear change—a brand that honors the legacy of the organization’s work while also charting a clear path forward toward longevity. We were greatly impressed and inspired by how leadership was open to new ideas, even when it would have been more comfortable to rest on their laurels. Branding always feels personal, and it can be hard to let go of something that “works,” but the leadership always prioritized their audience’s needs and demonstrated a willingness to set aside personal tastes.
In our logo rework, we simply streamlined the crowns to function more as icons, something that would be easily identifiable on any device or printed material. The clean and simple lines of the crowns in the reimagined logomark depict the clarity that The Trinity Forum’s core values bring when they shine brightly into culture. Likewise, the classic serif typemark exemplifies timeless truth, and its approachability represents engaging with the big questions of life to educate and equip leaders to think, work, and lead wisely.
Much to our delight, the alternate logo was exactly the sort of shift The Trinity Forum was looking for. It avoided the radical upset of a full rebrand, but it still indicated a clear change—a brand that honors the legacy of the organization’s work while also charting a clear path forward toward longevity. We were greatly impressed and inspired by how leadership was open to new ideas, even when it would have been more comfortable to rest on their laurels. Branding always feels personal, and it can be hard to let go of something that “works,” but the leadership always prioritized their audience’s needs and demonstrated a willingness to set aside personal tastes.
Creative potential: Why branding is important for new ideas
After the leadership team approved the new logo, it opened the doors to rethinking how The Trinity Forum’s brand could be lived out. We set to work building out a robust brand guide to inform and reflect every communication that the team might make, from something as small as an Instagram post to something as big as an annual report. We built out the color palette and offered a justification for how it supports the overall vision of the brand, and we created clear guidelines for the role of photography.
Our goal is always to empower our clients in their own communications work, so within the brand guide, we created links to a wide range of templates, including Adobe Express files for podcast promos, quote graphics, and website headers. We also designed branded slide decks so that every presentation from The Trinity Forum would feel consistent and professional.
Although the brand and templates were originally intended to be the entirety of our project, The Trinity Forum asked us for more support in a few ways, and this kind of continuity is exactly why branding is so important. First, we developed a sub-brand for the Wilberforce Legacy Society, the donor-focused branch of The Trinity Forum, and we used it as the foundation for a new brochure to explain the role and benefits of donating. Along with the brochure itself, we created envelopes and other print materials that The Trinity Forum might need to disseminate information. Finally, we designed the organization’s 2024 year-in-review letter and gave input on its content, ensuring that it aligned with all the effort put into the brand itself.
Ultimately, The Trinity Forum is the ideal example of how a project can organically take on a new form if the relationship generates it. We had such a creatively productive dynamic with the organization’s leadership that it felt intuitive for the work to expand, and we applaud the team’s desire to meet their audience where it’s at. There was never a conflict between legacy and longevity—just a willingness to unify the two.
Our goal is always to empower our clients in their own communications work, so within the brand guide, we created links to a wide range of templates, including Adobe Express files for podcast promos, quote graphics, and website headers. We also designed branded slide decks so that every presentation from The Trinity Forum would feel consistent and professional.
Although the brand and templates were originally intended to be the entirety of our project, The Trinity Forum asked us for more support in a few ways, and this kind of continuity is exactly why branding is so important. First, we developed a sub-brand for the Wilberforce Legacy Society, the donor-focused branch of The Trinity Forum, and we used it as the foundation for a new brochure to explain the role and benefits of donating. Along with the brochure itself, we created envelopes and other print materials that The Trinity Forum might need to disseminate information. Finally, we designed the organization’s 2024 year-in-review letter and gave input on its content, ensuring that it aligned with all the effort put into the brand itself.
Ultimately, The Trinity Forum is the ideal example of how a project can organically take on a new form if the relationship generates it. We had such a creatively productive dynamic with the organization’s leadership that it felt intuitive for the work to expand, and we applaud the team’s desire to meet their audience where it’s at. There was never a conflict between legacy and longevity—just a willingness to unify the two.
