PHH (Presbyterian Hospitality House)

Fostering a brighter, safer future for Alaskan youth

Opportunity

PHH had grown to the point that it needed a new space of its own. Financing this level of growth meant they needed to update the PHH brand and website. Most of their marketing and design work had been done in-house here and there by leadership. No one on their staff had worked with a design agency before and did not know what to expect. They did understand that this step was necessary for the expansion and security of the organization.

We fostered a healthy and open working relationship with the PHH team that quickly put their reservations at rest. They understood that we wanted them to succeed and that we’d do everything to set them up for success, the same way they help their youth.

Approach

After deep diving into their current website and brand, we worked with the PHH team and agreed that the site had too much information and it was difficult to navigate. The solution was to tell the incredible PHH story by focusing on the impact they were currently making. As we began working on the brand, we made sure that the narrative we wanted in the website was also present in their logo and brand.

Logo Mark

The three silhouetted children were kept to show strength and unity in diversity. The letters acknowledged PHH’s history, starting out as a religious-based organization helping Inuit women adjust to living in the city. The letter styles of the logo were influenced by indigenous artwork native to Alaska and the traditional Black Letter used in Latin bibles. Both use curved and ridged accents that we adopted into the letter forms and later throughout the website. PHH needed to communicate its mission and credibility clearly to donors, which would help bring the organization closer to its goal.

Results

We were able to produce a brand and website for PHH that shows their impact and incredible story. Instead of a single color and logo, the brand now had an entire palette, patterns, shapes, and a variety of logo layouts, accompanied by a thorough brand guide that would maintain the brand’s integrity for years to come. The website is now robust and tells the amazing story of hope given to each child that works with PHH. We made sure that the phrase “once a PHH kid, always a PHH kid” was clear on each page. As not every component is visible on the website, PHH is now set up to showcase milestones in the future. We’ve learned and enjoyed working with PHH and are so excited to see them grow and make an even greater impact on the lives of the youth in Alaska.

The website is now robust and tells the amazing story of hope given to each child that works with PHH. We made sure that the phrase “once a PHH kid, always a PHH kid” was clear on each page. As not every component is visible on the website, PHH is now set up to showcase milestones in the future. We’ve learned and enjoyed working with PHH and are so excited to see them grow and make an even greater impact on the lives of the youth in Alaska.

As an organization with a powerful, wonderful, history, PHH always knew we had a great story to tell, we just were not sure how to tell it and are really thankful that UB was able to work with us to tell that story in a compelling visual way. The Underbelly team worked closely with our team to tell our story in with compelling visuals. The collaborative process helped our team reach consensus about how we present our mission, the challenges our stakeholders have, and the value we deliver in a new website. Our small nonprofit organization is proud to have a modern place online that will help us raise money for a new building.
Brian Mathison
Teaching Parent

Credits

Joe Johnson
Designer
Matt Royce
Content Lead

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