Circular Design Internship (CDI) Program had just finished running its second cohort and realized that the community and mission were gaining traction and needed a brand that could scale with its members and vision.

Terms like “circular” and “design” were not reflective of the community that was growing and limited the perception of what folks think the organization did from the outside.

I guided a team of 3 stakeholders through a rebrand exercise with the following outcomes:

• New organization name
• Brand messaging that incorporated Hawaii's culture and values
• Brand kit (ie logo, typography, color palette)

The rebrand had a noticeable impact on our LinkedIn performance in the 30 days following the launch:

• Impressions increased by 23.5%, from 11,995 to 14,811
• Reactions rose by 27%, from 341 to 433

Not only that, but we received lots of praise around the rebrand which helped build the validity of the organization as it starts to partner with larger corporations like Blue Startups, Ōlelo Community Media or Honolulu Tech Week.

Using Column 4’s brand worksheet, I guided the team to fill out the questionnaire that assessed:

• Brand Voice
• Core Identity
• Visual Identity

After combing through answers, I summarized and presented them to the team to ensure we were all on the same page about the direction of the brand.

It was important to leverage Native Hawaiian concepts to represent the organization. I led a brainstorm session with the team ideating on different org names.

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We landed on “Piʻikū” a term meaning “transpiration” in Hawaiian. It represents a natural water system that metaphorically mirrors the regenerative mentor/intern model in the internship.

We also liked “Co.” to represent the community we are building.

With the new organization name established, I focused on solidifying the brand's visual language, starting with a 10-minute activity to collect, categorize, and discuss preferred images from the team.

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Key Quotes:

"block print is.. nostalgic and imperfect"

"pop of color.. [I] like [how] organic the circle is"

"..like rawness and chicken.. like lines not being super uniform"

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How I translated this into a visual language to refine the brand:

• Typography - large, bold, heavier weights
• Illustration/Visuals - organic shapes and lines. Block-print inspired
• Color - high contrast, but reflective of Hawaii’s natural flora and fauna

After we couldn't get alignment on my first logo sketches, I suggested using a display font for the logo with some minor tweaks.

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We liked Jackerton. It featured visually engaging ligatures with a heavy typeface, evoking ancient indigenous societies and abstract modern shapes suitable for the logomark.



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As a community-based organization, we polled the community as the final stakeholder. This was crucial for fostering a sense of contribution and increasing the likelihood of adoption.

Story-telling is important in Native Hawaiian culture and I made sure that we had a story within the logo itself. Each part of the logomark represented specific parts of the org’s message:

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The Dark Green Outer Round Shape – symbolizes the external Hawaii/tech community.

The Orange Donut-Shape Circle – An homage to our former name, "Circular Design Internship," signifying org core principles.

The Light Green Smaller Dot – Represents members within the community, symbolizing a seed planted in the mission of the org.

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"Co." isn’t short for “company.” – It’s the beginning of all our favorite words - collaborate, cooperate, community, and more.