Case Study
See Girl Work is a creative agency in Toronto working at the intersection of health, equity, and community. This is our spec brand identity work for "Check In", a fictional mental wellness initiative for Black communities across Canada.
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An organization's brand is more than just a logo. It's a reflection of its values, purpose, and the communities it serves.
See how we moved from strategy to visual identity, translating brand values into colour, type, marks, and campaign assets that feel authentic to the communities Check In was built for.
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Check In was created as a fictional mental wellness initiative to demonstrate what it could look like to have more open, supportive conversations around mental health within Black communities across Canada.
Built on the belief that care starts with connection, Check In reframes mental wellness from something addressed only in moments of crisis into an everyday act of community, honesty, and support.
The initiative needed a complete brand identity system — one that felt warm, approachable, and grounded in human connection. The identity would need to balance trust and professionalism with care, openness, and cultural authenticity.
Most critically: the brand needed to feel like it was made by and for the communities it serves — not like a clinical wellness product designed for a general audience.
Brand Strategy
Positioning + Tone
Visual Identity
Logo, Colour, Type
Deliverables
Guidelines + Campaign Assets
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For Check In, the goal was to build an intentional, meaningful brand rooted in deep cultural understanding and not assumptions.
Our approach is deeply collaborative and intersectional. For mission-driven organizations, a tone-deaf visual choice or confusing brand message can alienate the very people you want to uplift. That's why we treated every decision — from typography to colour strategy — with deep intentionality, ensuring it reflects the real, lived experiences of the communities Check In serves.
The brand needed to move mental wellness from a topic people avoid or only address in crisis, to something embedded in everyday community life. Warm. Honest. Accessible.
We sound like
We avoid
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The Check In logo was designed to feel warm, approachable, and grounded in human connection.
Combining clean modern typography — Work Sans — with a softer handwritten italic accent on the word in, the identity balances trust and professionalism with care, openness, and authenticity. The deliberate contrast between the upright roman letterforms and the italic in mirrors the Check In philosophy itself: structure and softness, together.
Primary Palette
Rooted Brown
#1E150A
Quiet Space
#F2E8D9
Forward Gold
#F0B429
Real Talk
#F4A27A
Secondary Palette
Grounded Clay
Open Sky
Growth Olive
Energy Blue
Typography — Work Sans
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Two distinct brand marks extend the Check In identity system — each rooted in the belief that healing happens through connection.
The Connect is a fluid, organic line that moves throughout the brand system, symbolizing the flow of conversation, support, and shared understanding between people.
The Speech Bubble is a visual representation of conversation as care — bringing warmth, approachability, and recognition to every touchpoint.
The Speech Bubble
Symbolizes openness, listening, and emotional connection across all brand touchpoints.
The Speech Bubble in Use
Its soft, rounded form brings warmth and recognition to the Check In identity.
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The Check In brand system was brought to life across a campaign landing page and social media content designed to stop the scroll and start a conversation.
Each application demonstrates how the visual identity holds with authority across contexts — from long-form digital storytelling to short-form social posts.
Campaign Landing Page — checkin.ca
A Mental Wellness Initiative
Let's check in. On ourselves, and each other.
Check In encourages open, supportive conversations about mental health within Black communities across Canada, because care starts with connection.
Check In reframes mental wellness as an everyday act of community, honesty, and support.
Our Purpose
Care that shows up before the crisis.
Built on the belief that healing begins with connection, Check In creates space for everyday acts of care, through culturally resonant storytelling, accessible resources, and community-centred experiences.
Reach out
A quick message. Small gestures that remind someone they're not alone.
Listen
Make space to really hear how someone's doing, without rushing to fix it.
Show up
Presence over perfection. Being there, again and again, is the real work.
You don't have to wait for a crisis to reach out.
The Check In Belief
Be part of the conversation.
Get stories, resources, and gentle reminders to check in on yourself, and the people you love.
No spam. Just care. Unsubscribe anytime.
A mental wellness initiative for Black communities across Canada.
Explore
About
Our Purpose
Stories
Support
Resources
Find help
Crisis lines
Follow
Social Campaign
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A bold, cohesive identity that earns trust, inspires action, and brings the Check In mission to life, before a word is even spoken.
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A full visual identity built from the ground up — logo, colour, typography, brand marks, photography direction, and a comprehensive brand guidelines document.
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Every design decision was made with deep intentionality to reflect the lived experiences of Black communities in Canada — avoiding performative or clinical aesthetics.
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Social media templates, a campaign landing page, and branded content assets — all ready to deploy across Check In's outreach efforts and built to scale.
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The identity communicates warmth and professionalism simultaneously — helping Check In show up with consistency, clarity, and confidence across every touchpoint.
