Services
Brand Strategy, Naming, Logo and Visual Identity
Sector
Nonprofit/Human Services
Lakeview Pantry started in 1970 when three women on Chicago’s North Side decided their neighbors didn’t have enough to eat. They collected food from local churches and grocery stores, served just under 100 people that first year, and built something that would outlast all of them. By 2022 it had grown into one of Chicago’s largest hunger relief organizations. But it had also grown into something a food pantry name couldn’t hold. Mental health counseling, job support, housing assistance, home delivery, an online market, locations across the city.
The Lakeview name told people the pantry was for one neighborhood, when the reality was that they’d been serving the whole city for years. People who needed them most didn’t know they existed.
Impact
The results of the Nourishing Hope rebrand were quantifiable. In the first year following the launch, food programs expanded by 40%, and contributions and grants grew by 16%. Employees and volunteers reported a stronger sense of shared identity under the new name, reflecting the organization’s shift from a single-neighborhood food pantry to a movement for food security and hope across Chicago.
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Increase in food programs following the rebrand
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Increase in contributions and grants after year one of the rebranding
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Increase in volunteers following the rebranding
Brand Vision
Substance developed the name Nourishing Hope. The tagline, Food for today. Hope for tomorrow, does two things at once: it speaks to the daily reality of putting food on someone’s table and to the longer work of helping people build stable lives.
The symbol abstracts a fruit stem into a directional element, a compass pointing toward something better. It also reads as a plate, which is exactly right for an organization whose mission starts with a meal and reaches far beyond it.
The visuals carry warmth and accessibility across social media, event materials, signage, apparel, and program collateral. The rebrand opened the door for people across the city who didn’t know the organization was for them.
The strong visuals lend themselves to social media, apparel, vehicle wraps, and program materials. The brand has become iconic on the streets of Chicago, a signal of hope that is instantly recognizable from a distance. When the Nourishing Hope van pulls up, neighbors know their community is being seen.
