Legal Action Center

LAC fights discrimination, builds health equity, and restores opportunities for people with criminal records, substance use disorders, and HIV/AIDS.

Service

Capabilities

The challenge

For decades, our country has enforced a broad range of punitive drug and criminal justice policies. As a result, one in three Americans have a criminal record, and millions more cannot afford the healthcare they need to address addiction, substance use, and mental health challenges. Legal Action Center provides direct legal services, pursues legislative advocacy, drives strategic litigation, and deploys training and assistance. Their multi-pronged approach is designed to tackle the complex challenge of overcriminalization and inadequate healthcare.

Visit lac.org

A group of people at a protest on the steps of a building, holding signs with messages like "Education Not Incarceration" and "Send Them to School, Not Jail." A speaker stands behind a podium addressing the crowd, surrounded by supporters and media.

Action is our middle name

As LAC's executive director once said, “Action is our middle name.” The organization has a long history of working and accomplishments at the intersection of health and justice.

Our new logo highlights the organization’s history of Action through the negative space of the A. This triangle became the cornerstone of the brand, and directly represents the upward mobility that the Legal Action Center offers their clients, as well as the steps that the organization takes to represent people that go unheard.

Image of a branding guide for the Legal Action Center. The left section details the typeface used, Tiempos and Effra, emphasizing their authoritative and clean nature. The right section displays a color palette with associated emotional tones like warmth, seriousness, and urgency.

Building a system

The triangle from the logo became the building block of Legal Action Center’s diverse icon set.

A grid of fifteen colorful abstract icons on a white background, featuring a mix of shapes such as triangles, circles, squares, lines, and symbols resembling graphs, presentations, medals, and play buttons.

We highlighted LAC’s unique focus on the intersection of justice and health through a visual frame that unifies different layers of the organization’s work. And the ticker-like pattern we created communicates the urgency of issues when necessary.

Cover of a report titled "Breaking Barriers. Defending Dignity." by the Legal Action Center. A person in the background holds a sign that says "JOBS NOT JAILS" during a protest. The cover is divided, with the top half featuring the image and the bottom half in red.

Three posters with the titles: "How to Recognize and Address Discrimination" (blue background), "Navigating the Hiring Process in New York" (yellow background), and "Health Insurance for Addiction and Mental Health Care" (red background). Each includes the phrase "Learn Your Rights!" and logos for LAC and NYS OASAS.

An open magazine on a yellow background. The left page features a photo of an adult holding a child. The right page has the title "Fighting Discrimination" in bold, followed by several paragraphs of text.

A purpose-first website

The new website was an opportunity to unveil LAC’s bold story. We started with their “why”, an emotionally-resonant, purpose-first articulation of their reason for being in the world. The website allows users to browse their complex work through the three lenses of Fighting Discrimination, Building Health Equity, and Restoring Opportunity.

A preview of a website split into three vertical sections against a red background. The sections showcase various articles, images, and menus with content about community actions, building equity, and current news. The central theme emphasizes defending dignity and opportunities.

Illustration of people assembling a large medical cross, symbolizing health equity. The web page of the Legal Action Center features navigation options, a "Donate" button, and sections on priorities like fighting discrimination and increasing opportunities.

The "Need Legal Help?" page is catered specifically to prospective clients and organizations seeking advice, counsel, or guidance. Whereas before, the organization felt more labyrinthine and difficult to approach, now, this page makes clear what services they provide, and how individuals and organizations can get in touch to get the help they need.

Two screenshots of a website. The left one features articles titled “Criminal Justice Involvement,” “Substance-Use Disorder,” and “HIV/AIDS Privacy Rights.” The right one shows a “Resources” section with various documents and videos on legal topics. A navigation bar appears at the top.

LAC’s new and improved resource library is a place where their clients and partners could browse decades worth of unique expertise in the form of publications, webinars, toolkits, and more.