How do you create an identity that’s queer-forward without turning to common clichés? Base Design shares its wisdom

Le Refuge is a Brussels-based non-profit that hosts and supports LGBTQ+ people who can no longer live at home in Belgium. An organisation working to address the sobering statistic that 1 in 4 of LGBTQ+ individuals will experience homelessness in their lifetime – with young people significantly more at risk – the charity helps queer people who have faced rejection from their families and have had to leave their home with little to no support.

Taking on the creation of an identity for the organisation as its pro bono project this year (a continuation of an annual tradition to work with a cause that resonates with the team), Base Design’s Brussels studio paired up with the initiative to put a face to its critical work for the community. “The nonprofit needed visibility, clarity, and a strong identity to support its future. Together, we defined how design could have the greatest impact – from strategy and positioning to campaign development and communication,” says Aurélia de Azambuja, senior designer at Base.

The core challenge for Base was crafting something “queer-forward and professional, without falling into clichés”, senior designer Bruce Vansteenwinkel says. With a whole host of corporate visual codes that often feel talentless or tokenistic, the studio wanted to steer clear of queer-washing or generic tropes and express the warmth of Le Refuge and its work, whilst also pushing the NGO’s professionalism and credibility.

Base decided not to steer away from colour to express the joy and pride of the organisation, instead they reimagined the pride flag in a more “dynamic visual language”, with softer shifting gradients across applications. Since Le Refuge protects the privacy of its users, the team at Base purposefully developed a more abstract visual system through the use of shape and colour to express ideas of care and safety that the brand needed to carry.

When it came to type the team knew they wanted to speak in an “open, accessible tone”, shares Manon Bails, senior strategist and copywriter, “From the start, we knew we needed an inclusive typeface. In Brussels, where French and Dutch are spoken, designing for inclusivity is more than visual – it’s linguistic.” With the need to push inclusion in a gendered language, Base came across Amiamie by Bye Bye Binary, a French-Belgian collective working at the intersection of type design and post-binary research and writing, developing an ongoing library of ‘post-binary fonts’.

Design-wise, the neutral sans serif typeface – inspired by the simplicity of Helvetica – is adapted with a range of inclusive glyphs, which adds to the sense of humanity and warmth that Base had developed in the brand's assets. But, importantly, it also tied the project to “the politically-engaged research and experimentation around non-binary language and visibility” that Bye Bye Binary is set upon pioneering, says Aurélia.

Beyond the new visual system, Base’s work stretched out across strategy, positioning and campaign development for the brand, aiming to build on Le Refuge’s overall messaging in order to increase donations and an engagement with its services. “Our hope is that the identity helps the organisation express itself with greater clarity and confidence – reaching the young people who need them most, while also resonating with the wider public,” ends Bruce.