2025
Most nonprofits think they need to look like nonprofits. You know the type. Earnest fonts. Stock photos of helping hands. Color palettes that scream "we're serious about changing the world but also please don't have too much fun looking at our website." Meanwhile, here's The Supporting Act doing something radical: actually supporting artists and cultural workers without looking like a government form.
The Supporting Act supports artists and cultural workers. Real support. Real money. No strings, no exposure-as-payment nonsense. When they called about announcing their open grants program, I knew this was different.
Color Palette Studies
So there's a pill shape in their brand. Showing up here and there like a shy kid at a party. I looked at it. And then—click—that's the whole system right there. The pill becomes a capsule. The entire grants universe, contained in perfect little capsules.
Working for good—not corporate good, actual good—does something to your design brain. Every decision carries more weight when you know an emerging artist might finally get their shot.
Photo Explorations
Then the photo selection. No stock photography nonsense—you know the ones, people in turtlenecks pointing at whiteboards. I picked images of actual artists doing what they do. Faces mid-creation. That specific look people get when they're solving something that matters. Diversity not as a checkbox but as reality. Energy that jumps off the screen.
Social media Explorations
That's what The Supporting Act gets. Support should feel… supportive. Radical concept, apparently.