The business world. Ye Old White Dude’s club.
In the U.S., fewer women start businesses, and the ones who do have a hard time getting funding. Brace yourself, now: the gap is even worse in Europe. Yet none of the women’s entrepreneur groups seemed to really speak to our client, a female entrepreneur based in Amsterdam.
One looked like it dropped straight from the pages of Goop. Another shouted like a political advocate group. And other groups seemed held together by a thread and a prayer.
There needed to be a quality women’s network that was just… real. So she branded her own.
Anyone who’s done it knows that entrepreneurship is harrrrrd. It means tough decisions. Raw conversations. Imposter syndrome. Sometimes burnout.
But it’s also an unfurling. A growing into a version of yourself you didn’t even know could exist. Bringing out capabilities you didn’t know you had. And when you have right people around you, the experience bonds you together like soldiers in battle.
So that’s how we looked at it. Like a journey. A wayfinding voyage, sisters at sea. The Netherlands has a long history of seafaring, so we took lots of cues from nautical design and modernized it with unexpected colors.
The Next Women is a place where you don’t have to hide the messy stuff.
It focuses on creating safe, warm, unpretentious spaces and events where you can put away your public image for a while. Just have raw and real conversations with other women who’ve either been right where you are, or are on their way. Camaraderie is king.
As part of the branding exercise, we explored some layouts and trinkets for social.
