Alliance for
Cowpea Improvement in Africa

BRAND STRATEGY
CREATIVE DIRECTION
art direction
BRANDING
DESIGN bY ASH TROWEL

The Burness team was asked to develop a brand for an Africa-focused agricultural research partnership that embraces cowpea production and consumption's many challenges and opportunities. The alliance’s first priority is responding to farmer and consumer demands for local cowpea varieties that can resist two common pests that dramatically reduce harvests and food supplies.

We started with interviews and a workshop to develop the brand platform and potential names for the alliance. Testing names through a survey, we arrived at the final name: Alliance for Cowpea Improvement in Africa (ACIA).

Informed by audience testing, ACIA’s brand development includes a logo, visual identity, an icon set, photographic direction, a PowerPoint template, and a name badge template, and brand guidelines.