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Design Category
Brand and identity systems design, 1998
Design firm
Pentagram (New York, New York)
Collection
(1999) Communication Graphics: 20
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Originally founded in the 1930s to combat polio, a battle eventually won, the March of Dimes now works on all fronts to ensure that every infant gets as healthy a start as possible.
The March of Dimes recently refocused its mission from “fighting birth defects” to the slightly broader task of advocating healthier babies. The organization’s old mark was geometric and corporate; the new identity needed more warmth. Pentagram helped the March of Dimes settle on the tagline “Saving babies, together” and the designers developed a pictorial solution showing an adult cradling a baby. Colors and typefaces were chosen to reinforce the basic friendliness of the new logo.
The graphic standards manual for the new identity was inspired by children’s primers and laminated “chubby board” books for babies and toddlers. The playful form of the manual helped make the introduction of the new mark memorable and charming to the March of Dimes’ many local chapters. Since the MOD is a chapter-driven organization, it was important that the new identity be welcome out in the field.