ASPCA Employer Brand
Project Web Design + Branding + Production
Role Lead Designer
Tools Adobe Illustrator, After Effects, InDesign, Figma
Agency Bayard Advertising
ASPCA needed an employer brand that could compete with for-profit veterinary clinics for top talent. The goal was to create a complete visual system and career site that positioned them as a compelling place to work by emphasizing what they uniquely offered: the ability to make a real difference in the lives of animals in need.
How do you convince veterinary talent to choose a nonprofit over a for-profit clinic? ASPCA needed a recruitment campaign that could compete with other employers by highlighting what made them unique: the chance to make an individual impact in animal welfare through touching the lives of animals in need every single day. Employees there are passionate about the work they do because they see and feel the difference they make each day, and their employer brand needed to communicate this.
The Challenge
I built a visual system around that idea: making your mark in animal welfare. I introduced hand-drawn accents and a handwritten font ("Good Dog") that paired structurally with their existing brand font, Museo Slab. Working with their staff illustrator, I art-directed custom drawings for each career area, developing a visual language that felt human, warm, and distinct from typical nonprofit recruitment materials.
But there was a problem: ASPCA's signature orange didn't meet ADA compliance standards for contrast on the web. With their approval, I modified the palette to ensure accessibility across the career site while preserving brand recognition, adding softer, pastel tones that complemented the orange without compromising readability.
The system needed to work everywhere potential employees might encounter it: pullup banners for career fairs, social templates, direct mail, flyers, swag, brochures. I led the design process from concept through delivery, collaborating with strategists, copywriters, and developers, presenting to stakeholders, and iterating based on feedback to keep everything aligned.
The Approach
The employer brand launched with a complete visual system that positioned ASPCA as a compelling workplace for veterinary professionals seeking meaningful work in animal welfare.
Impact & Deliverables:
Delivered a full suite of brand templates spanning physical and digital recruiting materials that enabled consistent implementation across HR and recruitment teams
Created an ADA-compliant color palette that preserved brand recognition while meeting accessibility standards for the career site
Developed custom illustrations for each career area that reinforced the approachable, mission-driven positioning data identified in discovery