Make-A-Wish was founded in 1980 after Arizona Highway Patrolmen and volunteers helped grant the wish of 7-year-old Chris Greicius to be a police officer. Soon after forming and multiple chapters coming on board, a wishbone icon with the name of the national organization was adopted, along with chapter logos with the same look. In the late 1990s, the Make-A-Wish phenomenon had begun expanding into international territories and research commissioned by the organization confirmed several challenges with the brand identity. In some cultures, bones or even symbolic references to the dead are forbidden or avoided. The wishbone was a vertical icon, while the Make-A-Wish Foundation of (America or chapter name, some of which were lengthy because of their wide geographic coverage) extended horizontally, making layout and design challenging in some environments. And just as most people automatically shortened Federal Express to FedEx, most also shortened Make-A-Wish Foundation to Make-A-Wish. We worked with international branding firm Luxon Carrá to explore and land on a new refreshed brand identity consisting of an updated color palette and customized wordmark logo that embraced a swirling, shooting, sparkling star designed to reflect the power and magic of a wish experience. We also introduced a new slogan, Share The Power Of A Wish, that continues to be used decades later.
Old Make-A-Wish Logo
New Logo
Sample Chapter Logo
Slogan
