The Lesbian Herstory Archives in Brooklyn is a touchstone for the New York Lesbian community. Located in its charming brownstone in Park Slope, the Archives is a cozy pocket of queer history that is maintained and managed completely by volunteers. This logo and branding guide were designed to freshen up the now decades-old Archives, and introduce it to a younger generation of New York queers. 

The Lesbian Herstory Archives is a binding institution within the gay community: it bridges the gaps between lesbian subcultures, women of diverse backgrounds, and different generations of queer women. This logo was designed to reflect that connectivity. 

All of the imagery used for this project was mined form the Archive collection itself. 

The Gay Liberation Movement of the 70s and 80s was a grassroots through and through. Messaging had to be distributed widely and cheaply, making Xerox zines the go-to vehicle for delivering information to the public. With that in mind, the imagery and compact size of this branding manual was made to reflect the zines made by dedicated lesbians who founded the movement that are still in the Archive files. 

The women at the Archives are not a subtle bunch—they believe that words like "dyke" and "butch," often used by straight culture to offend queer women, are an important part of the lesbian vernacular. These posters were made with language and images from the Archives.