Harry Pearce rebrands Witness: “See it, Film it, Change it”
December 15, 2019
Witness, the NGO that places importance on the use of video to highlight human rights issues, has been rebranded to “encourage collaboration and participation”. Witness was originally founded in 1992 by musician Peter Gabriel. Its central principal was to give cameras to human rights activists so that they could document their stories. The initiative was dubbed “little brother turning the cameras back on big brother”. In 2019 however, cameras in the hands of few have been replaced by smartphones in the hands of many. As a result, Witness’ mission has shifted somewhat, and now focuses on educating larger groups of human rights defenders in the safe, effective and ethical practice of video.
Pentagram partner Harry Pearce stresses in the new identity a focus on collaboration and participation from a “new generation of human rights defenders”.
Reportage shots and portrait photography play a key part in the new branding, emphasising a connection between different human rights battles around the world. Many of these images are closely-cropped shots of eyes, which are processed with a halftone dot technique. According to the team, this is done to achieve a “simple but effective device which holds the viewer’s gaze”. Throughout the branding, the organisation’s strapline “See it, Film it, Change it” can be found alongside the Witness logomark. Both have been set in Akzidenz Grotesk Medium, chosen for its “striking” and “dynamic” qualities. Alongside this, a “more optimistic” colour palette has also been developed, expanding on the organisation’s usual orange and black.
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