Since 2012, we’ve been using a gorgeous brand that we loved. Today we are introducing our new look—one that better reflects who we are today and will help us communicate about our organization to the survivors that we serve.
Our old brand had a very somber and serious look—stark black and white, with splashes of red—and it was that way for good reason. The sex trade and sex trafficking are dark and somber topics. The cut-off letters depicted something that was in plain sight, but simultaneously hidden—the sex trade.
Now, nearly a decade into REST’s history, we’re ready to turn the focus from the darkness toward the light—representing the strength, tenacity, and hope that we see as we walk alongside sexually exploited individuals. We will still talk about the darkness—there’s no avoiding it in this work—but day in and day out at REST we see empowered survivors fighting for their own freedom, safety, and hope, and that is what we’re hoping to express with our new brand.
In our new logo and mark, you’ll see an open door—an invitation to those who have experienced the sex trade to come to REST, and receive unconditional care through our Community Advocacy, Drop-in Center, Emergency Receiving Center, REST House, and Prevention programs. We’re incorporating brighter colors, which we believe reflect the boldness and power of the individuals we serve. We’re also adding illustrations that are intended to show the strength, tenacity, and diversity of sex trade survivors.
Along with this new look, we’ve relaunched our website. We realized that our site was focused solely on our supporters—and while it is important to invite supporters, donors, volunteers, and the public to learn more about sex trafficking and the sex trade, the site did not serve those who were seeking help very well. So with this new website launch, we added an option to “Get Help”. This creates a place to provide information for survivors and service providers looking for practical information on how to get connected to our services. Now when you go to iwantrest.com, you’ll be invited to self-select which experience you want. We are excited about this new opportunity to provide resources to everyone who visits us online—survivors and supporters alike.
Please take a few minutes to explore our new website, and get to know REST’s new look.
Thank you to Belief Agency, who donated their time to help us with this rebrand and new website, and @betshedraws, the artist who is donating her time to create our new illustrations.
Thank you to Jeremy Beasley, the volunteer designer and programmer behind our old brand and website that served us so well for so many years.