Written by Chad -

Every designer has a "top 5 projects" list that they absolutely loved working on in their career. For me, creating an identity system for some of my closest friends so they can live out their God-given dream has easily made my list.

Bright Side Youth Ranch is run by Devin and Tia Tharp. We've gotten to know each other over the past five years through an adult small group, three mission trips, many youth retreats, various projects and countless meal times. We've seen firsthand how God has used them in their jobs, ministries, relationships with others, their marriage, and even in the raising of their two awesome children—Leyton and Brynley. Amber and I were truly honored to help them create the visual identity for their greatest adventure yet.

Their dream is to share the love of God with children through a relationship with rescued horses and a connection with a mentor. They envision a safe place where the hurting and broken can find redemption, horses can find help, children can find hope, and families can find support. Through an environment of love and an interactive session, they desire for children to learn values of faith, family and trust. "Bright Side Youth Ranch" will be the vehicle to accomplish that, and their journey of starting this organization and building this very ranch is underway.

Bright Side Youth Ranch has been an idea Devin and Tia have been birthing for quite awhile, so it has been an incredible opportunity for us to walk alongside them, helping them to craft the visual identity, theme and brand of their ranch, before it's even a ranch!

Our first step in this process is always a set of questions for our clients that help them put down on paper their values, goals and ideas. From there, Amber and I put together a few mood boards (a collage of images, textures, designs, fonts and colors that represent a mood and feeling) for what could be their visual direction. After a few creative brainstorming sessions—that included plenty of laughter and joyful tears—all of us were able to assemble a refined mood board that set up "visual guidelines" to define their look & feel:

Using that final mood board, Amber and I were able to hit the drawing boards and create a logo, various design elements, motifs and typefaces for the Bright Side Youth Ranch identity. We also give every client a "design toolkit" of their final assets as a way to solidify their look & feel, so that everything they create moving forward can stem from the visual foundation we helped them establish. This ensures that all pieces for their organization are visually cohesive:

Their mood boards and design toolkit have already helped them create a custom branding iron, window clings and branded leather bracelets for their "founding members" and donors.

We love how their logo, website, social media assets and other support material came together. I'm not sure if we've ever had a more exciting launch of design work—mostly because of what this launch represented for the Tharps.

Outside of this project, Devin and Tia have helped strengthen my leadership skills, inspire me to step out in faith and push me in my journey with Christ. To me, the creation of Bright Side's identity is more than a logo and some fancy design elements. It's the satisfaction of knowing that God used me to partner with dear friends to achieve a dream they have been desiring for the past ten years. Words can't describe how privileged I feel to be a part of this reality that will change countless lives for God's glory.

I encourage you to check out their website, become a prayer partner and donate to their cause. Help them bring HOPE to the world through a RESCUED horse that will INSPIRE a child to become something more.

Bright Side Youth Ranch: RESCUE. HOPE. INSPIRE.