Context:

Step Up Louisiana is a multiracial and multigenerational network of community organizers fighting for racial, economic, and education justice. They helped bring three new policy proposals to City Council to advance equitable hiring and wage practices and needed a way to distill long and complex policy proposals into messaging that could reach City Council members and everyday citizens and residents.

Process:

• Qualitative Research & Analysis: An in-depth review of all three policy proposals, distilling key points and data, and a review of similar policy proposals in other cities.

• Collaborative Design Workshop: An interactive session with the Step Up team to discuss visual approaches, gather input, and develop design strategies.

• Synthesis and Production: Graphic design and layout, using Illustrator and InDesign, to create deliverables that aligned with Step Up’s style guide and could easily printed and distributed in a short time frame.

Outcome:

We create a series of “visual policy briefs” that quickly communicated the core details of each policy proposal. The visual policy briefs included local data that described the current conditions, details on the logistics of how the City Council could enact these changes, and a “myths and facts” page that dispelled common misconceptions about each policy. These visual policy briefs contributed to the successful passage of all three policy proposals, helping to advance economic justice in New Orleans and building power for local organizers.