WE Protect Freedom!/Branding developments
| WORK IN PROGRESS! This page is under development. Check back soon for updates. |
(photo by Ryan Pimiskern, Flickr).
Wikipedia: Monarch butterfly
WikiMedia Commons: Danaus plexippus.
WE Protect Freedom! may be a comprehensive way to organize, clarify fundamentals, positively rebrand ourselves, engage our members, better grow our numbers, and visibly and/or financially support our freedom groups.
The name or title, "WE Protect Freedom!", is not written in stone nor printed on cards yet, so this name, title, and branding project may evolve, come to nothing and be abandoned, or may remain. Time will tell.
First draft
This is just an evolving first draft pitch by Jason Carswell that will be presented to our communities for consideration, further input, development, improvements, tweaking, and hopefully for wider acceptance and implementation. Naturally and always, everyone is welcome to join Projex.Wiki and contribute to these pages (we'll set up wiki classes soon enough), or interact via email, phone, or in person with Jason who will improve these wiki pages with your contributions.
This living document may evolve and change over time, yet include an immutable development history ("view history" at the top of every wiki page) - and perhaps we can draft a strong cornerstone constitution (that may be amended). Currently this page documents the branding conceptual development, community fundamentals, and analysis for promotion and growth - all of which can be moved off to a more specific brand-development page if necessity requires this page title.
Why rebrand and reorganize?
- Since we're running out of business cards, we'll need more.
- Since we're designing and printing cards, why not also flyers, web resources, T-shirts, and other merchandise to raise funds for projects and/or rainy days?
- Since many folks were exceptionally disappointed with the first business cards, why not redesign them?
- lack of inclusiveness for community involvement, feedback, and adjustments
- missing critical information and links
- poor branding, poor design, and poor messaging
- rushed job
- stuck with unprofessional cards for a year
- Since we're not yet in desperate need, thus not in a rush, we may openly and collaboratively improve the card design.
- Since we're improving the design, we may improve our message.
- Since we're improving our message, we may improve our branding.
- Since we're improving our branding and message, we need to understanding our core principles.
- To understand our core principles we need to define them.
- Many of us have been asking for clarity and a reference touchstone for years, whether it's a charter, mission statement, outline, whatever you want to call it in whatever form it evolves into.
What this not.
- This is not a mutiny.
- This is not angry.
- This is not division.
- This is not an effort to change or replace Stand Up Windsor, Freedom Alliance Canada, or any other existing group(s).
- This is not an effort to change or replace any heads.
What this might be.
- Maybe nothing comes of this, or...
- Maybe we get clarity and cards.
- Maybe we get a stronger, more inclusive, open, more communicative community foundation.
- Maybe we can grow a larger base on that better foundation.
- Maybe we'll be better prepared for whatever tyranny has in store for us next.
- Maybe we will form a new group or a few specialized subgroups with members who still participate in the old or other group(s) - as overlap already happens with regional communities.
- Maybe these specialized subgroups can blossom and evolve lives of their own.
Brand identity
In order to effectively develop our brand identity we must know what we don't want, drill down to our core purpose, outline our fundamental goals, determine
Unfocused, negative, limited
"Fuck Trudeau" flags merely state an opinion, crudely, and whether you are for or against Trudeau, the flag and flyer don't offer actions, purpose, nor productive solutions, while saying nothing about our freedom and prepper communities and goals. Yet to be proven, it's been alleged that the "Fuck Trudeau" design is owned by a series of shell corporations that trace back to Justin Trudeau himself, preemptively controlling his own opposition - thus flying this flag may indirectly serve his purposes.
The term "freedom fighters" confusingly may mean fighting for freedom as well as fighting against freedom, and
Clarity, motivation, action
The "WE" (all capitalized) of Windsor & Essex County was arrived at for the WEFringe group email lists and seemed like a catchy, clever gimmick to carry over. (Folks are welcome to disagree and express other ideas.) "WEFringe" is meant to be as clear and as short as possible for the group email title.
Fight
"Freedom Fighters" is not at all clear and needs improving.
- Fighting for freedom or fighting against freedom?
- Fighting with words? Fighting with fists? Fighting with nukes?
- Why so angry? Why fight in a peace movement?
For good branding, all confusions and negatives should be avoided, including all associations with violence and fighting.
Defend
Initially "Defend Freedom!" was an improvement that seemed good enough. However, it came up (sorry I forget who with) that "Protect Freedom!" is less adversarial. To defend implies conflict, not to mention that the American War Department was rebranded the Defense Department to improve public relations and perceptions of their industrial mass murder apparatus, whom we want no associations with.
Protect
"Protect Freedom!" remains a peaceful, positive, actionable statement of resistance and opposition to all kinds of tyranny - the mafia government puppet "leadership" as well as the status quo establishment of banksters, corporate monopolies, the ruling class and their deep state, their matrix of rigged systems of deception, manipulation, exploitation, oppression, and extermination, and all orders of authoritarian overreach, corruption, and despotism - from local to global.
Four versions
- Freedom! = universal appeal, but without action or purpose
- Protect Freedom! = more specific, active, may be a command, and/or a call to action
- WE Protect Freedom! = our short local brand
- Windsor & Essex County Protects Freedom! = our extended local branding removing all confusion
All four versions may employ the same design motifs, whether developed below or in the future.
Globally the first two versions may be sold globally to raise funds for our causes when designed and applied to merchandise. Hopefully with any luck, these open-source projects (with inspirational motives and design choices explained below) may become an effective world wide phenomenon with life of its own.
Locally, we'll have our own versions to be proud of and self-identify with.
Other regions
Other regions, groups, and individuals are welcome to modify these open-source ideas. Examples: Canada Defends Freedom!, Canadians Defend Freedom!.
Raising the alarm
WAR!!!
Endless tyranny
During this pleasant summer of 2023, many folks may not realize that the wicked never sleep and are always orchestrating greater evils, perpetual propaganda, more lockdowns, medical tyranny, bigger psychological warfare, global institutional theft, global economic transformation, world wide starvation, and endless war - including ongoing wars on energy, families, food, health, mobility, speech, and other liberties, as well as never ending fifth generation warfare and culture wars distracting from cataclysmic collapse and economic warfare for full spectrum dominance and centralized control.
Perpetual war
Thus our resistance work must never tire and never end, even in calm periods. Whether people realize it or not, we are in the perpetual war that George Orwell outlined in 1984. It's impossible to think of anything more alarming demanding dramatic drastic warnings to the people.
Warning tape motif
Therefore I cannot think of a more appropriate attention-getting motif than warning tape with diagonal bars of black/yellow (like honey bees or voluntaryist, anarchist, and libertarian flags, designs, and motifs). Other colours or stripe patterns may be employed, like red/white, green/white, red/yellow, or the various warning stripe colour motifs on emergency vehicles of different regions (some may have exclusive claims to colour combinations, such as UK police cars with fluorescent yellow hoods, yellow/blue checked sides, and rear yellow/orange warning chevron stripes). Easily found and purchased, the majority of warning tape comes on adhesive rolls of vinyl tape, duct tape, reflective tape, etc., cheap to expensive. (By my definitions to clarify in a world of confusing labels and mislabels, warning tape should not be confused with caution tape, which is typically non-adhesive strung up in the air. Phrasing may repeat "caution", "biohazard", "danger", "police line do not cross", etc.)
Practical
Warning tape is easily available, economic, highly identifiable, and pragmatically useful to perpetuate and propagate our group identity branding motif. This bold attention-grabbing tape may be used to post up professionally printed and/or self-printed material, decorate protest signs, make costumes, or whatever inspired versatile applications arise.
Hazard signs
We may also embrace other yellow/black hazard signs, symbols, and motifs as well as striped mascots like the honey bee, wasp, hornet, or bumble bee.
Or orange?
Optionally we could embrace a colour shift to orange/black to be distinctly different, employ the poisonous Monarch butterfly rather than honey bees, and embrace the Halloween aesthetic.
Communicative signaling
Warning stripes in coded colours and designs may convey messages. For example, if organizers at a rally had printed clipboards, or protestors had printed cards, they could communicate different concepts individually or as a group across a loud crowd by holding it up a certain way. The four edges may each have different coloured warning stripe combinations. The clipboard or card would have two sides, 4 edges, and 4 corners providing 16 orientations (plus on end sideways) to simply hold it, with more communication options available by bobbing, flapping, waving, rotation, frequencies, speeds, patterns, etc. Signal communications may range from simple to complex, including some basics like: emergency, distress, attention, warning, volume up, volume down, repeat message, come here, go there, etc. The printed cards or clipboards could even list the signals. Among many distracting protest signs, the specially coloured warning stripes might have a chance to stand out, even among a sea of yellow/black stripes.
Pervasive
Ideally this freedom motif will span the globe and everyone in the world will be consciously or unconsciously be triggered to "Defend Freedom!" every time they see warning stripes, caution road signs, triangular hazard signs, orange road cones, the colour "caution yellow", or Max Headroom.
Brand usage
Accessibility
From amateurs to professionals, anyone can apply, design, draw, make, paint, and/or purchase warning stripes to decorate for any design purpose to defend freedom.
Stripe design utility
Good graphic designers embrace pros and cons of design limitations. For example, the 45 degree diagonal warning stripes may feature diagonal text, one way or the other, interactively inviting observers to tilt heads to read. Or each stripe may contain separate compartmentalized fields of information, alone or in a series. Prominent titles, critical information, and graphics may be overlayed without diagonal tilts.
Core functions and goals
For maximum efficacy this rebranding process requires revisiting and reconsidering our freedom groups' core functions and goals, including:
- organize, engage, and network our members, groups, actions, events, and resources
- clearly communicate and openly share our fundamental values, concerns, information, and ambitions
- expand growth of members, alliances, public awareness/visibility, community abilities, and community resources
Understanding and organization of these core functions can be shared (among members and the public) clearly outlining our mission, be printed in materials, documented online, referenced in press releases, and even be applied to fundraising merchandise and products to greater or lesser extents.
Initial brand usage ideas
This wish list may just be hopeful dreaming or only the beginning. Obvious top priority items to start with are business cards, flyers, stickers, T-shirts - and bandanas. Bandanas are small and easy to distribute, easy to hide/expose, easy to wear and self-identify (like boy scouts or the original red-necks), easy to tie on something, easy to wave high, easy to use as a flag/sign, etc.
Items may be professionally printed, downloadable to be self-printed, and/or hand-made.
Hopefully we may establish an online store and/or retail storefront to sell merchandise for fundraising (see #Support below).
- print
- banners & signs
- to identify the group
- to identify the event
- to share information
- book cover designs
- for Canadian Constitution (a free download PDF e-book) to mass-print collectable hardcopies to sell
- contact book, gardening guides, health guides, herb guides, walkie-talkie manuals, etc
- business cards
- flyers
- posters
- stickers
- banners & signs
- merchandise
- badge-patches
- detachable Velcro badge-patches
- bags
- backpacks, messenger bags, shopping bags
- bandanas
- beverage containers
- cozies, cups, mugs, shot glasses, thermoses, water bottles
- button-pins
- clipboards (see #Communicative signaling above)
- Faraday cage items (printed with motif)
- bandanas, boots, caps, gloves, hats, hoodies, overalls, phone pouches
- hats
- ball caps (Team Freedom!), cowboy hats, fedoras, knit caps, sun hats
- jackets
- casual, rain shells, windbreakers, winter jackets
- shirts
- bowling shirts, hoodies, polo shirts, sweatshirts, T-shirts
- umbrellas
- badge-patches
Business card proposal
The business card would feature rounded corners (for safety) with a thicker card stock (for impact, to keep, and remember). Being a more expensive card hopefully folks will respect and revere it more. And hopefully folks will appreciate the aesthetic design.
Card front
The entire card front is yellow/black warning 45 degree stripes with red accents including the rim around the card and the title box outline.
- Large line 1:
- Windsor & Essex
- Largest line 2:
- WE Demand Freedom!
- within the white title box, outlined in red
- WE Demand Freedom!
- Large line 3:
- Societies & Networks
- "Societies" need not be government-registered groups, according to what's been said about Common Law.
- Societies & Networks
- Perhaps minimal classy flourishes would be nice, or even bracketing rampant lions (as in the unfinished painting at left by Jason Carswell).
The above will occupy the top half of the card, and the bottom half is occupied by the following...
- Within three primary black diagonal stripes are these bold sub-group titles at 45 degrees:
- Action
- Communications
- Resources
- Within yellow diagonal stripes are sub-group details in much smaller print, also at 45 degrees:
- activism, aggregation, analysis, education, information sharing, communities, families, justice, local actions, organizing, networking, protests, rallies...
- arts, communities, content creation, creative expressions, email, lo-fi alternatives, media, networking, newsletters, original productions, podcasts, social media, websites...
- communities, economics, employment, food security (distribution networks, organic farms, gardening), health & wellness, housing, networking, prepping, trade, transportation
Card back
Most of the entire card back is yellow with red text and a red edge-outline-border so that folks may use black or blue ink to make notes.
- Line 1:
- We are all under attack!
- Line 1 alternative:
- Humanity is under attack by the globalist ruling class!
- Line 2:
- We must prepare for the worst, hope for the best,
- resist tyranny as hard, as long, and as much as possible,
- and survive, thrive, and strive for dignity, respect, and compassion.
- Line 3:
- [empty space, as large as possible, for notes]
- Line 4:
- Defend against fifth generation warfare. [Hopefully this curious term will inspire folks to look it up.]
- The bottom section features a black/white QR code in each bottom corner leading to the websites listed between them:
- ◄ https://Projex.Wiki [will be linked to a more specific introductory reference page for folks with this card]
- (226)770-0055
- Info@FreedomAllianceCanada.com
- https://FreedomAllianceCanada.com ► [arrow points to the QR code]
Only a link or two more may be added to the card if absolutely necessary, but the linked Projex.Wiki page will host as many links and information as we like. Similarly, it's okay if some of the proposed text above is not on the card because all of this and so much more may be included on the Projex.Wiki introductory page that will be updated, evolve, and be improved over time. Everyone is welcome to join Projex.Wiki to help curate this page's content and so much more.
More slogan ideas
- more coming
Body copy
- more coming
Fundamentals
- more coming
(See #Core functions and goals above.)
Organizing
- more coming
Engagement
- more coming
Growth
- more coming
Support
- more coming
Fundraising ideas
- more coming
(See #Initial brand usage ideas above.)