Helpsy

The average American throws away 100 pounds of clothing per year. On the whole, we recycle less than 15% of the textiles we purchase. And fashion is consistently in the top five most polluting industries. But, we don’t hear much about it.

The founders of Helpsy heard. They started by improving access to collection bins in the northeast, and now maintain over 2000 containers and they are a certified B Corporation. Additionally, they opened sorting facilities to process what they collected and bought through other channels. It turns out 95% can have another use. The rougher items (about 20%) are recycled into insulation, shop rags, or the stuffing in car seats. That leaves 75% suitable to be reused, a much better outcome. Last year, they processed 25 million pounds! 

Their team decided the best way to meet their mission was to start an e-commerce site. That brought up questions about brand architecture. In addition to the B2B company, Helpsy also owns a company called Kosei Threads which sells clothing by the pallet to individuals who resell the clothes online one piece at a time. Should the new B2C site be called Helpsy, Kosei, or something different altogether?

We surveyed the market, looking at competitors and other companies solving a similar problem in different markets. We created an identity system that tied the companies together and leveraged brand equity rather than deplete it.

AOR: Bullhorn
Role: Creative Director, Design Lead

Scope

Brand Guidelines
Brand Identity
Brand Language
Website Design