Naming and visual identity Design for Jujuégalo, a play-based approach project for children in Colombia.
¡Jujuégalo! is a project developed in Colombia by the International Rescue Committee (IRC) in partnership with La Otra Juventud, aeioTU, and Clack Educación. It is part of the LEGO Foundation's global Play Movement initiative, which seeks to promote learning through play in vulnerable contexts, so that children can be the protagonists of change.
Who are we?
Jujuégalo is a unique and unrepeatable gathering: four organizations that brought together expertise, knowledge, and ways of being and doing, to fulfill a mission in communities in Medellín, Bogotá, and Cali: to create spaces where children, adolescents, and young people can play and have fun together with their families and caregivers. Jujuégalo's spaces are located in community-based organizations that are well-known in each area.
There, the physical space is transformed into a stage for and with the communities, where play means empowerment for children and their families: the freedom to be themselves, to integrate into their host communities, and to grow up in a place where fun, learning, and imagination are the order of the day.
Jujuégalo Play Space in Cali, Colombia.
These scenarios are also platforms for listening and audiovisual exploration, where the patches amplify their voices and create content that functions as axes of communication and community networks, through which they can express their own needs, values, desires, and dreams.
The Brand Concept
We are all different, we look different, we act differently. But when it comes to playing, feeling, and creating, we can come together in our diversity to imagine all possible worlds. It doesn't matter if we are angry, happy, afraid, or calm. All emotions, all colors, and all shapes are welcome. Children are the protagonists, and we welcome them to this celebration. Their values, characteristics, and identities are reflected in JUJÚ's graphic pieces.
"¡Jujuégalo!" means "Play it!". "Parches de Emoción y Juego" means "Groups of Emotion and Play"
Keywords that guided the project and the brand design: Fun • Inclusion • Diversity • Comunity • Play • Emotion
The foundation of this brand was co-created with IRC's Partners and project's participant children
Based on the conviction that a co-created brand is fundamental for creating a common language and a common goal between stakeholders, its core foundations were developed through co-design workshops. In those workshops field teams, partners, and children expressed what they wanted to reflect on the brand and chose the final proposal. Participation is fostered when everyone feels identified with a brand that can be seen and represents values, identity, and key criteria to co-design and connect with each other.
Gallery of the workshop with the IRC Partners: aeioTU, Click Clack and La Otra Juventud.
Gallery of the workshops with field teams and children
Brand Tale, created through a storytelling strategy.
We know how challenging it can be for a family to arrive in a new community, especially in the midst of a migration crisis. Or to welcome migrants or displaced persons into their own territory. • What if we give ourselves the opportunity to get to know each other and... play? • We believe that play empowers children and their families: empower them to be, to grow, to create, to learn, and to integrate into their host communities. So... • ...let's meet in “parches” (groups) of emotion and play • and let's begin again.
Brand Patterns
This brand wouldn't have been possible without the conceptualization, ideas, and valuable collaboration of my IRC's Design and Innovation team 2022 - 2023, colleagues María Alejandra Alarcón and Andrea Forero. Thank you both.