A New Name Without Starting Over

Raising Special Kids was an established family-support organization with deep community recognition when it first partnered with Javelina in 2022. Our initial work focused on defining their core identity, brand and messaging, and key audiences. Just a few months later, they returned with a bigger challenge: its well-known name no longer accurately reflected who it was, and leadership agreed that “Special” needed to be removed. But changing an established name carried real risk. Board members worried about losing recognition, creating confusion, or choosing a new name that failed to communicate the organization clearly enough to preserve future opportunities. The team also hoped to introduce the new brand alongside its 45th anniversary.

• Core Identity: Defined the organization’s why, what, how, and who to create a strategic foundation for every decision that followed.
• Brand Strategy & Messaging: Developed the Brand Narrative, Positioning Statement, Brand Persona, Brand Tone, Message Triangle, elevator pitch, FAQs, talking points, and audience-specific messaging.
• Naming Strategy: Conducted a competitive naming analysis, developed and evaluated name concepts, and performed high-level availability research to identify a new organizational name that could carry the brand forward.
• Stakeholder Alignment: Designed the process to bring leadership, staff, and board members into the rebrand at strategic points.
• Visual Identity: Developed a mood board, explored multiple logo concepts, and refined the selected direction into a complete logo system, color palette, and typography.
• Brand Guide: Created a comprehensive Brand Style Guide covering logo usage, alternate marks, spacing, colors, typography, co-branding, and real-world applications.
• Messaging Guide: Brought the organization’s strategy and messaging together in a designed resource that could guide consistent communication across the new brand.