While at Calor Creative, I collaborated in the rebranded identity for Mountaintrue & worked on their newest project of Debris Clean-up.
MountainTrue is a grassroots environmental nonprofit that champions resilient forests, clean waters, and healthy communities in the Southern Blue Ridge Mountains. As they grew, their brand adapted to reflect their desire to be seen as a professional and trustworthy organization. Now, after 40 years of serving Western North Carolina, MountainTrue stepped back to take a fresh look at their brand. Together, we focused on what keeps them going and making a difference in their community – their people.
This rebrand was a collaboration alongside the Calor Creative team, where I contributed across brand identity development and digital execution. From early strategy conversations to final rollout, I worked to ensure the updated visual system felt both credible and community-driven. My role focused on helping translate MountainTrue’s long-standing mission into a cohesive, flexible brand that could grow with them while still honoring their history.
At its core, this project was about balance—maintaining the trust they’ve built over four decades while creating a refreshed identity that felt more personal and accessible. Every design decision aimed to strengthen that connection between the organization and the people who power it
Our goal as we began our project with MountainTrue was to preserve the trust and brand equity they have built over the past 40 years, while making the brand feel more ownable and personal to volunteers, members, and activists in the WNC community.
Their previous brand kit consisted of Helvetica, a palette of blues and greens, and a logo that was carrying too much of the brand and didn’t scale well.
Their previous brand kit consisted of Helvetica, a palette of blues and greens, and a logo that was carrying too much of the brand and didn’t scale well. The logo we developed keeps the mountain shape, nods to MountainTrue’s work with rivers, and uses a sans-serif typeface. Rough edges and a quirky “e” bring playfulness into the logo that is reflected in the rest of the brand kit. Activating the logo with animation (by our friend PWR Creative) helps bring even more life into the brand for digital communications.
The core brand color palette has stayed similar to MountainTrue’s roots. We started with blues and greens, but toned them down from the existing palette to better reflect the natural environment that MountainTrue works in. We added in a rainbow of other tones to help communicate the vibrancy and energy of MountainTrue and give them a bigger range of colors to use in various graphics. For typography, we chose a friendly serif for headlines and paired it with a rounded sans-serif.
All of the critter drawings we developed represent WNC native species, and they are all performing actions related to MountainTrue’s programs and main areas of focus. We really wanted volunteers, employees, and partners to see a glimpse of themselves in these little critter designs. Guidelines for the critters allow them to be quickly used in context with related
programs or events.
We brought in additional elements to make members and volunteers feel appreciated. We developed a badge style to highlight activities that participants complete, to further incentivize them to get involved with MountainTrue. Badges will be implemented digitally at first, but may eventually become a collectible item like stickers, pins, or patches. We also created a pledge to show that being MountainTrue is even bigger than just being involved with the organization – it’s a commitment to our beautiful earth.
As the rebrand was being finalized, MountainTrue launched their Debris Cleanup Program, which works to remove man-made debris from rivers in WNC. I led the creation of all preliminary wireframes for the six-page mini site, establishing the structure, user flow, and content hierarchy before moving into final design and development with the Calor Creative team.
The site was designed around three key audiences: potential employees, volunteers, and landowners who need their rivers cleaned. MountainTrue supported the launch with radio, print, and television ads directing WNC residents to the site. Within the first two months, all paid positions were filled, and the site continues to serve as a key tool for connecting with volunteers and landowners.
