DC Department of Employment Services

Identity Design for the ApprenticeshipDC Program

“The unique typography was designed to appeal to the city’s youth. The graffiti effects are a shout out to the culture and nature of the urban D.C. employment environment.”

“In the District, many young people fail to get the training or credentials of value to the labor market and needed to get or keep a good-paying job.”

Case Description

The Department of Employment Services (DOES) connects District residents, job seekers and employers to opportunities and resources that empower fair, safe and effective working communities. Seaberry designed the identity for the DOES ApprenticeshipDC program to build on the D.C.-centric movement that connects government agencies to the citizens they serve.

In District, many young people fail to get the training or credentials of value to the labor market and are needed to get or keep a good-paying job. D.C. youth are lagging behind their peers nationwide in the rate of employment, and few programs provide a partnership among government agencies, community-based groups and employers. DOES had a goal of developing a program that would re-engage and support youth in transitioning successfully to adulthood. In 2017, DOES launched “ApprenticeshipDC” to better connect employers, government resources and workforce programming to D.C. residents.

The logo’s unique typography was designed to appeal to the city’s youth. Embedding the DC flag in the logo places DOES behind the effort and lends credibility to the program in the eyes of prospective employers.

Graphic elements are used to call to the audience. The grunge effect adds a brick-and-mortar finish to the logo, reminiscent of hard work. The graffiti effect is a shout out to the culture of the urban youth employment environment, with its mix of jobs from unskilled labor and building trades to technology.

The new logo complements the colors of DOES and the DC Government, providing consistency across the DOES brand.