A look inside our Austin team retreat and why intentional pause, thoughtful design and humanity-centered practices strengthen nonprofit and social impact teams.

Why Retreats Matter for Mission-Driven Teams | Black Sheep

Why intentional time together shapes the way we work, think and lead

Designing Retreats That Strengthen Mission and Momentum

Condensed

Elevating Creativity: Our 4-Day Workweek Experiment

As an agency that was established to provide a better working environment and positive, caring cultural experience surrounding the creative process (even before we settled into our impact mission in 2012), we’ve decided we can’t let this ride. That's why Black Sheep has embarked on a 4-day workweek experiment to see how it affects the way we feel and the energy we can put into our work.

How our team is embracing a new way to work together

Regular

Here's a playlist curated by the Haus of Hoodoo with some certified bangers.

Homesick with Hoodoo

Knowing when to leave and start over is a superpower.

The Quitter's Guide to Boundaries

In the midst of another catastrophic rise in COVID-19 Cases, it's hard to feel inspired, again. Take a moment with us to find a few sparks of inspiration, from the olympics to good friends and close family. Let's be courageous together and find some inspiration.

Inspiration Dr.

Going to space is cool—but could it be a distraction tactic?

What do we need to go to space for? Why did a few billionaires spend billions to fly into space for a few minutes? What if Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk are just playing us? Maybe there's something larger at play.

GOING TO SPACE IS COOL: BUT COULD IT BE A DISTRACTION TACTIC?

Fair warning, I love everything about the Cosmos;  the wonder, the vastness of space and all of the possibilities of the unknown. 

The Revolution Might Just Start with a Mirror.

It's easy to hate our bodyies, but they're pretty magical things. With the help of some self affirmations, and a good podcast listen from Glennon Doyle, learn to treat your body like the beautiful instrument that it is.

The Revolution Might Just Start with a Mirror

Our identity is based on the deeper meaning we find in our life. Meaning comes from examining your own beliefs and core values to learn what is important to you.

When speaking of meaning and identity, it is indispensable to understand that the principle of meaning is found in the purpose of any act or sequence of acts. Whether we are driving to the grocery store or whether we try to see the entire largely unknown course of our lives stretch before us, no action or actions make sense unless they are aimed at a destination. 

Crisis of Meaning

This is a blog about how human truth is found in both marketing and comedy, humor and satire.

It's funny because it's true

Comedy, like marketing, requires human truth.

TIMOTHY OMUNDSON (FT. SELMA BLAIR) (2020) | Inside of You Podcast w/ Michael Rosenbaum #insideofyou

It's hard to navigate stress, especially when you've got an autoimmune disease. Community Organizer Torey Brown writes about how she gets through tough times.

This Too Shall Pass

Stress is difficult to manage, especially with an autoimmune disease.

Annie Dillard says “how we spend our days, is of course, how we spend our lives." It's been a year since we had to change how we spend our days, how can we change our perception of time, and make it work for us?

Time by any other name

Sounds can transport us, help us heal, help us focus and help us wind down. Here are some suggestions of soundscapes you can bring into your daily lives to help your work, and your relaxation.

From Your Laptop to the World

How we can use the internet to shift our inner landscapes to affect our external realities

Snow days make for great memories, but in the wake of the pandemic, we're lacking those miniscule moments of bliss, like being surrounded by snow.

What's Your Version of a Snow Day?

It snowed last week in my home state of Virginia.

Condemned by the Puritans, lamented by the young and wealthy and avoided by all, boredom is now an easily-remedied nuisance of yesteryear. No longer must one twiddle their thumbs in a waiting room, make small talk in an elevator, observe the faces of one’s Fellow Man in the subway, or gaze tragically out the window at passing scenery in a long silent car ride.

Transcendental Nothingness

Our screens have "cured" boredom, but is that really a good thing?

Joan Morgan  - Hip-Hop & Feminism

Since the 1990s, Black women in hip hop have been outspoken within their sexuality, freedom, self-preservation and dismantling toxic ideals and narratives.

Hip Hop Feminism Saved 2020

For me, this year has been one of complete transformation—from the inside out. 

Written by a Gen Z Digital Storyteller

A reflection on the weird parade of life and grime that this obnoxious pandemic year has spurred.

Triumphs and Laments of 2020

A reflection on the weird parade of life and grime that this obnoxious pandemic year has spurred

With the election behind us and much to happen these upcoming weeks, it's important to take a mental moment for ourselves. Here's a playlist to help keep it chill.  

Keep it chill

My iPhone screen time was up last week by 86%. 

Manifestation doesn’t just come in the form of furniture you need showing up near an oversized trash can. Manifestation is bringing something tangible into your life through attraction and belief. If you think it, it will come.

The Magical Dumpster and Manifestation

Amanda Oleander's paintings encourage us to take a second and appreciate the little things. Let it ground you, let it feel special. Then wholeheartedly soak it in.

Grounded by the Little Things

In efforts to encourage the let’s-all be-happy-and-ignore-the-chaos-for-a-little-bit ways, this’ll be short and sweet.

NSL Bites: Yvonne Force Villareal on the Power of Public Art

Yvonne’s statements on public art providing accessibility inspires work that can guide humanity and create opportunities for pause in new ways as we enter this new creative period.

The Power of Public Art

I’ve been thinking about this clip of Yvonne Force Villareal and what she said about the power of public art leading up to my trip to Marfa last week:

Why Originality is Wildly Unpopular (According to Neuroscience)

Originality is the courage to oppose and the insight to see how that opposition can change what we see in front of us.

When we think of the word “originality,” we think of the act of creation.

Most branding advice assumes one organization with one leader making the final call. Coalitions, networks with local chapters and groups of partners chasing a shared goal don't work that way. They decide together, priorities compete and the smallest partners often have the fewest people to carry the brand once it exists.

We've been working through these dynamics with the Houston Cultural Districts and the institutions and artists around them, building a shared brand for the city's arts scene. Recently, our team walked through that process at the Houston Media Conference in a luncheon keynote called "Undefinable On Purpose." 

Here's what we've learned that applies to any organization whose brand depends on partners it doesn't control.


Who needs to be heard before a shared brand can take shape?

A shared brand needs input from everyone who will be asked to use it, champion it or be represented by it. Those groups overlap less than most leaders expect. Funders and civic partners tend to focus on visibility and economic impact. Practitioners care about credibility and fair representation. Community members want to know whether the story sounds like them.

We layer our research so each group is heard where they'll be most candid:

1:1 interviews draw out honest perspectives from decision-makers.

Focus groups show how people negotiate their differences in real time.

Sitting in on partner board meetings, when we're invited, adds context no interview can.

This phase doubles as early community building. People are far more likely to adopt a brand they helped shape.

Try this: Before any creative work starts, list every group that will use, fund or be represented by the brand. Then decide how you'll hear from each one.


How should research tensions inform brand strategy?

A tension is a place where two things people care about pull in different directions, and both sides are usually true. Tensions show where people are most invested, which makes them some of the most useful findings research can turn up.

On our work with the Houston Cultural District, nearly every strength came with a risk. Greater visibility for neighborhood arts could accelerate displacement in communities already under pressure. Recognition tends to concentrate around large institutions, leaving midsize organizations and mid-career artists out of the story. And many of the stakeholders who want a stronger collective story are the same ones who resist being summarized.

Most complex nonprofits carry their own versions: headquarters versus chapters, legacy programs versus emerging ones, a national message versus local identity. Naming them explicitly gives the creative team something real to design around. It also moves the hard conversations to the start of the process, where they cost the least.

Try this: Write your biggest tensions into the research findings as plain either/or statements. Then decide together how the brand will handle each one before design begins.


How can a brand reflect real complexity without losing clarity?

A brand can hold complexity only when it commits to a clear point of view. When research keeps concluding that a community is everything at once, creative teams stall and strategy drifts toward language that feels safe and says very little. Jo Skillman, our creative director on this work, named this risk directly in the creative brief:

"We've all heard it said: Houston is a little bit of a lot of things. Diverse, a tapestry rich with culture. However, trying to be everything to everyone will water down our visual and written creative. The brand directions we propose must contain a strong point of view on who we are and why. It's difficult but necessary."

The shared brands that hold up best work as a frame. They hold many stories at once while making a clear claim about what connects them. That gives participants room to see themselves in the brand without diluting the whole.

Try this: Test every brand direction with one question: could another city or coalition say this about itself? If the answer is yes, it isn't specific enough yet.


How do you keep a coalition aligned through creative decisions?

Alignment depends on agreeing to the goal in writing before anyone sees creative. We view the creative brief as the document that nails everything to the wall. Keep it short and candid, and use it to surface likely friction before hours go into design.

The brief earns its keep later, when feedback drifts toward personal preference. The group doesn't need to agree on the shade of blue. It needs to agree the work is reaching the larger goal. With many decision-makers, holding that line keeps reviews productive and protects the timeline.

When stakeholders are creatives themselves, start with a session reviewing a wide range of visual references. The value is in the reasoning behind each reaction, which gives the group a shared vocabulary for every review that follows.

Try this: Open every creative review by rereading the brief's goal out loud. Ask reviewers to tie each piece of feedback back to it.


How does a shared brand stay recognizable across very different organizations?

Consistency in a distributed brand comes from a small set of elements that never change. A system that has to work on a neighborhood mural and a museum banner needs a recognizable thread, whether a color, a mark, a pattern or a phrase. Protect those elements and let everything around them flex to fit the partner and the setting. 

Adoption also depends on capacity. Many coalition partners have no designer or communications staff, so participation has to be easy. Toolkits, templates, co-branding guidance and ready-to-post assets lower the barrier and help smaller organizations stay visible within the brand.

Try this: Choose the few elements partners can never change. Then build a starter kit that a partner with no designer could use in an afternoon.


When should rollout planning begin for a multi-stakeholder brand?

Rollout planning should begin while the brand is still in development. A shared brand gains value only through use, so partner onboarding, distribution and digital activation need to be designed alongside the identity. Each partner should see a role that matches its capacity, from a large institution running a full campaign to a small organization sharing a single post. Planning early also surfaces practical questions, especially around funding, while there's still time to solve them.

Try this: Ask each partner now what they could realistically do in the first month after launch, and build the plan and budget around those answers.


What makes a shared brand worth the effort?

A brand built across many organizations takes more listening and more deliberate facilitation than one built for a single institution. The return is a story more people feel ownership of and will carry into their own work.

If you're leading a coalition, network or multi-partner effort and the brand keeps stalling, we can help. 

Coalitions and multi-partner networks need a brand everyone can carry. Lessons from building a shared Houston arts brand with the Houston Cultural Districts, with steps to try.

How to Build One Brand for Many Organizations | Black Sheep

What building a shared Houston arts brand with the Houston Cultural Districts taught us about building one brand for many organizations

Coalitions don’t get one decision-maker or one story. Here’s what we learned building a shared arts brand with the Houston Cultural Districts.

The Black Sheep blog is turning up the volume on community engagement, social media strategy, Houston happenings and what it means to lead a purpose-driven life.

The Black Sheep Agency | Social impact and nonprofit blog

We like to type as much as we like to listen.

We're not shy.

How Can a Coalition Share One Brand?