The 1939 Society
A Rebrand To Remember
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A Rebrand To Remember
For over fifty years, the LA-based 1939 Society has helped Holocaust Survivors by providing a community of support, and by sharing members’ Survivor Stories through youth-education initiatives. But to reach a younger audience, the brand needed an update. Our rebrand helped The 1939 Society ensure the stories of its members — and their legacies — would not be forgotten.
The website dated back to the early days of the Internet, and the dark green logo even farther back than that. For the future’s sake, the rebrand needed to consider The 1939 Society’s younger target audience; at the same time, we needed to avoid alienating existing members. We updated all the brand assets—adding new ones where needed—with a focus on broad appeal.
With an improved brand image and simplified donations process, The 1939 Society could finally start capitalizing on its extensive network of high-net-worth donors.
Originally known as “The 1939 Club,” this nonprofit was long overdue for a brand identity update. In order to keep the organization going strong, they needed to reach a younger target demographic. At the same time, they couldn’t risk alienating their longstanding members.
The new brand thus demanded a delicate blend of classic and modern elements. We began with a more open and inclusive brand name — “The 1939 Society” — as well as an uplifting logo and color scheme. The manifesto would establish the brand’s new tone, bridging generational divides with a unifying set of core values: legacy, community, and the triumph of the human spirit.
Before
After
The 1939 Society is a great historical resource for the Jewish community, so naturally there are hundreds of photographs, documents, audio files, Holocaust survivor interviews, and more. Within their old website, however, all these important resources were difficult to find. One of our largest tasks was to take this information and organize it in a way that would make it user-friendly and comprehensive to students and people interested in learning more about the Holocaust. We gathered The 1939 Society’s many brand assets, updated them where needed, and moved them all online — making the content not only accessible to everyone, but also intuitive and engaging to users of all ages.
When your website has lots of material, it takes tactical design to organize and present everything in an intuitive and aesthetically pleasing way. The 1939 Society had 99 YouTube videos, dozens of downloadable news articles, multiple community initiatives, and over 50 years of collecting and preserving first-hand accounts of the Holocaust. Every piece of content has been laid out with a comprehensive design that’s attractive and easy-to-use for longtime members and new supporters alike.
The new website improved on the previous versions “mail-in only” donations system with an easy-to-use online system — much simpler for younger users.
The 1939 Society also benefited from our adding several monthly membership options, each tiered for different donor demographics. We also designed benefits packages for each membership level, which helped grow donation size and incentivized one-time donors to become lasting supporters.
"The Knightsbridge Branding team has the unique ability to integrate an immense amount of information of all forms and types and present it in a creative, interesting and engaging approach. Our website, and hence our organization, has benefited immeasurably from their talent."
