The New Look of HAC

Learning Our History and Embracing the Future

Do you know when or why the Hilltop Action Coalition was started? This was something we looked into when we first started thinking about the new look and feel of HAC. 

We wanted to make sure we knew where it all started and what the organization and logo has meant to the community as we embarked on this journey. 

The Hilltop Action Coalition was started in 1989 as a community response to gangs, drugs, and violence. The coalition’s first meeting was on October 24th, 1989 at Stanley Elementary School, where community leaders hoped to work with police and neighbors to address the “urban decay and crime plaguing [the] area." 

Thirty years later, the Hilltop has changed, and so has the mission and approach to this work that the Hilltop Action Coalition has taken to create a livable and thriving neighborhood for residents, businesses and community members.

To reflect that change, we have undergone a full rebrand in order to capture the new work that we are doing and new approaches to community engagement that we have been 

We started by researching the history of HAC and spent time in the Northwest Room at the Tacoma Public Library to learn more about where HAC started, where the logo came from and what community needs HAC was filling at the time. This research reiterated a lot of what HAC had originally been started for- addressing crime, gangs, and drugs. In the dozens of articles that were brought up in the research, most of them were covering violence, police responses, and other negative perceptions of the area. It made sense that HAC was needed to bring folks together to address these things in the community. 

But this didn’t really resonate with who we are now, the work we do, or what we want to focus on as an organization. 

All of this reinforced the idea that it was time for HAC to refresh our look and build a brand that shows who we are as an organization and emphasizes the work we currently do to activate the community. 

We worked with Route 586, an amazing, local, black-owned marketing agency who focuses on branding, strategy development and storytelling to help us shape our story and build a brand that would be reflective of our vision for the future. Over the course of two months, HAC staff met with the Route 586 team (shoutout to Davon and Jermaine!) to discover what we wanted people to recognize us for, digging deep into our purpose and creating a brand image that was fresh and engaging to people from all walks of life in our community. This was a great experience and helped us to shape our brand around the “Action” in our name and mission- action that we are taking as an organization, but also action that community members can take to make their neighborhood and community a great place to be. 

The most notable part of this rebrand is, of course, the Hilltop Action Coalition logo. If you have followed us for any amount of time, you are likely familiar with the house logo, which depicts an older type of home that is sprinkled throughout the neighborhood. During our research and brainstorming sessions, we felt that this didn’t convey the full scope of the work that we do. Seeing a house in a logo made folks think we were a housing organization or focused only on supporting homeowners, which isn’t the case. What we do is much more broad, providing support and services for residents, community members, and businesses. 

The new logo gives us a nod to the start of HAC while bringing in a fresh perspective. The bold letters and colors, new slogan and icons show the community that we have planted a flag in the community and are here to be the place for everyone in the community to come to when looking for resources, information, or support. It also reflects the vibrancy of the community and the actions we are taking to keep it that way. 

" This was a great experience and helped us to shape our brand around the “Action” in our name and mission- action that we are taking as an organization, but also action that community members can take to make their neighborhood and community a great place to be. "

Another important part of the rebrand, in addition to new brand colors and logos, is the HAC website. If you have visited that site over the past few years, you know it could sometimes be difficult to navigate and find information you need. Well that has finally changed! Thanks to our new brand, and a brilliant local aritst and web designer, we also have a new website. Here, you will be able to see upcoming events in a calendar, read news stories in our blog and learn more about our community partners and organizations that are doing amazing work in the Hilltop. Check out the new look here hilltopactioncoalition.org 

There’s so much more coming as we launch this new brand and continue to build upon our work and look in the community. We hope you see yourself in this new brand and look forward to growing with you. 

Special thanks to everyone who helped us with this huge project! Find out more about Route 586 and their services https://route586.com/. And if you need to do any research be sure to check out the Tacoma Public Library Northwest Room https://www.tacomalibrary.org/northwestroom/. 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Are you an aspiring journalist? Do you have a neighborhood story that needs to be heard? Please contact us with ideas and/or to write for our blog or the Hilltop Action Journal.