Project Spotlight: OAAARS and DCC19

Nov 11

DCC19 is here to help our communities through our creative volunteers. This is the story of how Farah, our DCC19 lead impactfully rebranded OAAARS; a POC led consultancy building safer & inclusive work environments.

Farah Al Aqrabawi is a DCC19 lead and graphic designer based in Ottawa, Canada.

Simone Gamble is a community organizer, youth worker, educator from NYC and is the founder of OAAARS.

Nov 2021

In our third Q&A, we chat with two DCC19 folks on their work bringing OAAARS, a people of the global majority-led consultancy that provides social justice-centered training and education to life.

Our DCC19 lead and volunteer designer Farah, teamed up with Simone, the founder of OAAARS to provide branding designs for their POC consultancy which is helping shape safer and inclusive work environments. Farah paired with Simone to imagine and dream up the full potential of OAAARS and the impact they could bring as an inclusive consultancy. Leaning on her creative expertise, Farah brought life into their vibrant and personable brand, assisting with their social media & bringing the OAAARS vision to life.

Tell us a bit about you--where your from, how did you get into design, and type of design do you do in your regular work?

Simone: My name is Simone Gamble. I am a community organizer, youth worker, educator from NYC. I am currently the founder of OAAARS a people of color led consultancy that provides social justice centered education and training to create safer and inclusive workplaces while cultivating change agents in the workplace and beyond. I got into this work with OAAARS because I wanted to make sure that people of color, especially Black people had spaces at work where their identities were seen, honored, centered and given equitable access to all they needed to thrive. I wanted OAAARS to be a response to the silence that happens in workplaces when it comes to issues of social justice and other DEI related issues and to provide the training on how to transform workplaces led by change makers themselves. All of our consultants identify as community organizers, activists, artists, and advocates. We are excited that the design we created speaks to the dynamic, communal, and bold nature that OAAARS represents.

Farah: My name is Farah Al Aqrabawi. I am a graphic designer based in Ottawa, Canada. Additionally, I graduated from Architectural school in 2017 but I used to volunteer my time in helping with graphic design gigs throughout my studies. That makes me a self-taught graphic designer, eager to learn new skills and take one new challenges to build my portfolio.

Gradually, I realized that I started getting more drawn to the visual communications world and would find ways to merge that in my architectural work. I find it very fulfilling to work on design projects that use design thinking for social impact, especially with businesses such as OAAARS who are doing the necessary work for diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace culture. So, working with Simone Gamble on OAAARS branding was no surprise for me.

How did you hear about this community and what was your expectation in joining?

Simone: I heard about the DCC19 community through a connection of one of my community organizer comrades in NYC. I put up a post about needing tech assistance for the creation of an app and website for OAAARS. The post was then circulated by folks on Facebook and I was then connected to DCC19 lead Branden. My expectation was that I would meet someone who can support me with technical pieces of my business, but what I received was so much more.

Farah: I heard about DCC19 platform during the onset of the pandemic in May 2020 when I attended a virtual event led by ilovecreatives and an attendee mentioned DCC19 community. I was intrigued to check the projects that would require my design skills since I needed a distraction during lockdown. I was easy to fill the form on the website and join the slack community.

“Being part of the community was really helpful for many reasons. It was inspiring to see the work the designers are developing with the organizations that need the help. Additionally, I was able to meet other fellow designers from various fields, like UX/UI design, web developers, app developers, and even industrial designers.”

— Farah

How did this project start?

Simone: OAAARS is a people of color led consultancy that provides social justice-centered education and training to create saf(er) and inclusive workplaces while cultivating change agents in the workplace and beyond. So through the use of workshop training for all staff, leadership coaching, audits, we work with organizations to find the spaces where equity, inclusion, and injustice are missing and provide them with the tools to change it at every level. We also give folks the tools to use this knowledge to not only change their workplaces but also their communities.

I was inspired to start my business in 2017 and there were a bunch of factors that led to its creation. The first was as a response to silence in the workplace around issues of justice when it came to marginalized communities. Folks need to remember that we can’t take on the world when we enter our desks so our workplaces need to take those experiences into account when thinking about how to fully show up for everyone. I remember one instance where I went to work after a major police killing and not having any space to just process this and still having to perform at the same capacity as my white peers. And this was only one instance in which my identity played a disproportionate impact on my experience in the workplace. So I wanted to create an organization that became the noise in the room to help facilitate these training sessions.

Farah: Around end of June, one of the design help requests on the DCC19 slack channels mentioned that OAAARS could benefit from a rebrand for a website launch. I quickly responded that I'll be happy to help out. After meeting with Simone and knowing more about the story behind OAAARS, I didn't think twice to get involved in this project and now it's been almost two years since that decision, I never regretted it.

Tell us a bit about your project(s) team. How did you find each other and how do you work together?

Simone: My team at the moment who work consistently on OAAARS are myself and Farah from DCC19. She is our current Branding and Marketing Manager and has done a wonderful job in rebranding OAAARS in addition to OAAARS hosting a community of about 62 consultants of color and growing who we work alongside for our work with clients. OAAARS refers to these talented change makers with organizations looking to transform organizational culture, systems, and behaviors to support the cultivation of safer, equitable, and inclusive spaces.

Farah: My role with OAAARS involved wearing many hats ranging from Graphic Designer, Branding Designer, to Social Media Manager as the current role. Since our collaboration was all based on remote work, we had to rely on making use of platforms such as Slack, Zoom, Airtable, Google drive, etc.. in order to make our team communication and collaboration successful. Our weekly check-ins are very valuable for OAAARS progress, and especially during lockdown, it was something that I kept looking forward to.

Working with Simone has been amazing because she sees the value in design and how it facilitates carrying the message of OAAARS across our community. Additionally, it feels like I gained a friend from this opportunity. Though she is based in New York, I'm sure we are due for an in-person meet up soon!

“OAAARS refers to these talented change makers with organizations looking to transform organizational culture, systems, and behaviors to support the cultivation of safer, equitable, and inclusive spaces.”

— Simone

What was the most thrilling/gratifying and frightening moments along the journey? Did you learn anything?

Simone: The most gratifying moments along the way included the following:

The first time I saw the branding moodboard for OAAARS new creative direction When I was first paired with Farah, she she took time to curate some stylescapes, narrowing down the creative direction in order to fully understand OAAARS, our mission, values, and our voice. After our first meeting she developed other assets such as our new logo, our brand colors, favicon, etc which overwhelmed with emotion. It was the first time someone captured the vision I had for the picture of OAAARS. She took her time to understand what OAAARS was and combined her talent and creativity to create something new.

The first time we released our new OAAARS logo to relaunch our instagram In the beginning half of 2021, Farah supported OAAARS in launching our rebranding on all of our social media platforms. There was an overwhelming reaction from community and supporters about how amazing our rebrand was. It has attracted us new clients, new supporters, new consultants, new subscribers, and so much more visibility.

The time our new website went live with our new look and fundraising video This year we were also able to launch our new updated website made through collaboration between Farah, our Branding designer, Micah Woods, the website designer and developer, known as @okkmicah on instagram, and Nick Ashkenis, the copywriter, known as @parallelcopywriting. Farah attended every feedback meeting with Micah in order to make sure that we're on track and she even developed Brand Guidelines and finalized any other branding assets that would help the Micah with the website design development. This was vital in creating the landing page that we have been trying to build for the past year and a half. Farah also supported in directing the fundraising video created by Neha Gautam who was pivotal in the creative direction of our video. It captured the heart of our organization. Our website was years of work and anticipation came to fruition. The support of Farah and her direction was pivotal!

Farah: Showing up to check in with each other and our progress during the preparation for the rebrand launch was very gratifying. Even on the days we're not feeling productive, especially with the the stressors of the pandemic and multiple lockdowns. That took a toll on both of us and we knew we had to hold space for each other and center our mental wellness. I am grateful to work alongside Simone who has taught me that no work or task is worth your mental health and wellness.

Seeing my creative work on OAAARS social media platforms was one thing, but seeing it printed on a sugar cookie for OAAARS first annual retreat this past summer was a whole new realization. I actually teared up, though I wasn't there physically in NYC for the retreat but getting updates on how much the consultants are loving the branding details was very gratifying.

“Farah took her time to understand what OAAARS was and combined her talent and creativity to create something new.”

— Simone

What did you learn from this project?

Simone: I learned the importance of having folks on your team who truly understand your vision and believe in you. This makes all the difference. It saves so much time and energy when you have someone who is aligned with your goals and values. It shows in the work completed and in the synergetic working relationship. I also learned to let go of what you feel may be the best way. I learned to truly trust others with my vision as well. Farah helped me to realize the potential OAAARS had in regards to its branding and visuals to the world. And it's only going to get bigger, better, and bolder from here!

Farah: I learned that showing up is more important than not showing up at all. I also learnt that working alongside others who value your contribution and your efforts is key for an efficient working relationship. Additionally, I learnt that as a designer, we have to be more wary of the factors faced by small businesses, especially those founded by marginalized communities.

Anything you'd like to share for aspiring designers?

Simone: As a Black Women founder of a small business, I would tell designers that if they choose to volunteer or work with folks that you come into the work still giving 100 percent. We never know how far your work can take the company with this full investment. Farah’s belief in my project before it was successful is the reason we are in the space we are now. That belief despite compensation helped me to realize that someone will believe in a growing business like ours when others have counted us out. That was more priceless at times than the actual services rendered.

Farah: I urge designers to be more understanding and educated of the factors faced by small businesses, especially those founded by marginalized communities. I also urge the designers who have the capacity to volunteer their time in helping those small businesses.