Rebranding RICE Crew

After becoming the Marketing Design & Publicity Director for RICE (Rochester International Choreography and Entertainment) Crew, a Rochester-based dance cover and hip-hop team, I took on revamping the logo and social media pages as they were outdated, engagement was low, and we weren’t very well known as a dance group. Brainstormed multiple different drafts, designs, and identified elements unique to our dance crew to give it an identity it had lacked prior.

01

Before

No brand identity

Generic and low quality logos and designs
Low follower count and engagement

02

Research

Important elements:

East Asian influences
Dance keywords: kpop, modern, hip-hop, art
RICE bowl (RICE = Rochester International Choreography & Entertainment)
Youthful but not childish, young adult group

03

Goal

As a performing arts group, RICE Crew strived to have a modern feel that emulated the youth of our team but maintain a sense of professionalism.
Incorporating elements of the group's East Asian influences was essential.

04

Objectives

What we wanted to convey:

Open & welcome
Passion for our art
Trendy
Elevated style and skill

05

Keywords

Modern
Sleek
Contemporary
Flow

06

Key Elements

Rounded/wavy linework
Waves
Gradients
Rice bowl
Circular elements

results:

Keep the blue and white color palette, but added black for a sleeker look.

07

Color Psychology

Goals to convey:

Open & welcome
Passion for our art
Trendy
Elevated style and skill

Blue

Reliability
Open spaces
Freedom
Imagination
Inspiration

White

Efficiency
Trustworthy
Honesty
Cleanliness
New Beginnings

Black

Professional
Responsibility
Confidence
Durability
Discipline

Water

To go along with the blue in our color palette, we decided to incorporate wave/water imagery into RICE Crew.

A new wave: new logo

Refreshing: we’re bringing something new to the table, we’re the only Asian dance crew on campus
Water is constantly flowing and moving with grace, perfect for a dance group
Openness: we welcome all and can fill all possibilities/expectations
Everchanging: constantly evolving and changing with the times, just like our new brand image

We decided to incorporate a wave inspired by the famous Japanese print The Great Wave off Kanagawa to reference our ties to East Asian culture
Rounded lines, wavy lines, dots/circles tie into water imagery (roundness)
Gradients in the rice bowl on the logo that mimic waves
Although we wanted professionalism, we still wanted to be inviting to new members

A new wave: new logo

Refreshing: we’re bringing something new to the table, we’re the only Asian dance crew on campus
Water is constantly flowing and moving with grace, perfect for a dance group
Openness: we welcome all and can fill all possibilities/expectations
Everchanging: constantly evolving and changing with the times, just like our new brand image

We decided to incorporate a wave inspired by the famous Japanese print The Great Wave off Kanagawa to reference our ties to East Asian culture
Rounded lines, wavy lines, dots/circles tie into water imagery (roundness)
Gradients in the rice bowl on the logo that mimic waves
Although we wanted professionalism, we still wanted to be inviting to new members

Fonts

For fonts, I decided on Righteous, a geometric sans serif typeface for titles and headers. This font was visually accessible and had the perfect balance of lines and curves. It was modern and sleek and complemented the rice bowl we made well. For body text and subheaders, we landed on Nunito, a rounded sans serif typeface with good balance.

As I would only keep my position for while I was in Rochester for my college years, it was important that our design choices and elements could be easily interpreted and accessed by successors I would not meet.

Results

RICE Crew's Instagram went from mid-300s to over 1000 followers

Instagram engagement rose by 41,000% within 3 months and increased follower count by 310%.
From 2021-2022 we were invited to perform at 4 events → since I took the position we’ve had 4+ performance requests every month.

Received requests to perform outside of Rochester and at both dance and non-dance events (Rochester middle/high schools, night clubs, dance competitions out of town, events at other universities.

Instagram engagement rose by 41,000% within 3 months and increased follower count by 310%.
From 2021-2022 we were invited to perform at 4 events → since I took the position we’ve had 4+ performance requests every month.

Received requests to perform outside of Rochester and at both dance and non-dance events (Rochester middle/high schools, night clubs, dance competitions out of town, events at other universities.

Member count doubled every year:

May 2022: 111 members

May 2023: 243 members

Current: April 24 2024: 578 members