Services
Brand Strategy, Naming, Logo and Visual Identity
Sector
Nonprofit/Human Services
Thresholds is Illinois’ oldest and largest provider of recovery services for people living with mental illness and substance use disorders, serving thousands of members each year through housing, healthcare, crisis response, employment, and youth services. Their work spans some of the most specialized programming in the field, from a Deaf Program serving people with mental illness who are deaf or hard of hearing, to a Veterans Project, to residential communities that offer far more than shelter.
In a sector defined by fragmented, hard-to-navigate services, Thresholds was doing the work of connecting people to housing, health, and a path forward, but the previous brand didn’t set them apart. The messaging and visuals looked like every other human services nonprofit, a missed opportunity for an organization already operating at a different level of scale and sophistication.
Impact
The rebrand gave Thresholds a platform that speaks to their role in the healthcare continuum, not just the human services space. The positioning reframed how funders, partners, and referral sources see the organization, moving Thresholds from one voice among many to a distinct, forward-thinking presence in behavioral health.
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Increase in contributions and grants
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Increase in program service revenue after year one of the rebranding
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Increase in total revenue after year one of the rebranding
Brand Vision
Substance repositioned Thresholds as a vital adjunct to healthcare, closing the perceptual gap between behavioral health and the broader healthcare system Thresholds’ members also depend on. The brandmark’s emphasis on the H suggests a ladder to the next level, a visual cue for the upward trajectory at the center of the Thresholds mission: breaking cycles of poverty and unemployment, reconnecting families, and making recovery possible for people the system too often writes off.
That same letterform anchors the tagline Substance developed: Home. Health. Hope. It’s simple enough to hold the full range of what Thresholds does, from residential programs and crisis response to evidence-based clinical care and supported employment, without flattening any of it. The print collateral and website lean on member testimonials to bring the mission to life, and the site’s architecture makes it easy for people in crisis, and the professionals referring them, to find the right program fast.
Real member voices anchor the brand. First-person testimonials and custom photography appear across print collateral, the website, and social media, so the people telling the story are the people actually living it, not stock photography standing in for their experience. The same authenticity carries into apparel and vehicle wraps, making Thresholds instantly recognizable across Chicago without ever losing sight of whose story it’s telling.
