The Tree of Life
Discipline: Brand Identity · Campaign · Web Design
The Challenge
The Tree of Life is a mixed-use affordable housing building in Jamaica, Queens. It was created by First Presbyterian Church in Jamaica (FPCJ) and managed through their non-profit, the First Jamaica Community and Urban Development Center (FJCUDC), in direct response to the shortage of affordable housing and community resources in this working-class neighborhood. Through our long-standing relationship with the church, we were asked to create a brand identity for the development and community center — one that could carry real meaning without falling back on the clichés that so often define this kind of work.
Our Approach
Rather than reach for the expected, we anchored the identity in the mission of the church, and by extension the Tree of Life center itself. We began with the Bible as the source and foundation for the visual language. From it came the guiding idea: the word of God and the Tree of Life, whose branches reach out to the people. That metaphor shaped the full system — brand identity, campaign, and web design — grounding every touchpoint in the community and faith that made the project possible.
The Result
The Tree of Life launched with an identity as rooted as its name — a brand that honors the church's mission while speaking directly to the families it was built to serve. From logo to brochure to website, the work extends the church's reach into the community, giving a vital affordable-housing effort a face as purposeful as its cause.
