Project Brief
Turnout NYC is a public-space and cultural initiative developed by SITU Studio and Design Trust for Public Space, with support from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Created as New York City began reopening after the COVID-19 lockdown, the program set out to expand access to arts and culture in historically underrepresented neighborhoods.

The initiative brought together artists, cultural leaders, city agencies, and five Community Cultural Partners across Brooklyn, Staten Island, Queens, Manhattan, and the Bronx. At the heart of the project was a flexible Kit-of-Parts: a modular stage, site marker, benches, ramp, signage, seating, and other tools that could turn underused public spaces into welcoming cultural venues.

Alfalfa Studio was brought in to create a visual identity system that could give the program a strong, recognizable public presence while allowing each community partner to make it their own.

The Goal
The identity needed to be bold enough for the street, flexible enough for multiple neighborhoods, and welcoming enough for artists, audiences, and community partners.

From the visual point of view, the main objectives were to:

• Create a memorable identity for a new civic and cultural initiative

• Design a system that could work across signage, stage graphics, digital media, social templates, and public-space applications

• Give local partners tools they could adapt and use

• Make the brand feel energetic, accessible, and unmistakably New York

• Support a scalable model that could live across the five boroughs

Approach
Alfalfa Studio developed the brand strategy and visual identity for Turnout NYC, including the logo, color palette, graphic language, campaign system, signage graphics, and editable social media templates.

The identity was designed as a flexible container for local expression. Its bold typography, vibrant color, and graphic energy gave the program a clear voice, while interchangeable templates allowed Community Cultural Partners to integrate local art, event information, partner logos, and neighborhood-specific programming.

The system had to work in many conditions: on a stage backdrop, on site markers, in social posts, on the website, in printed materials, and across public spaces with different physical, cultural, and logistical needs. It also needed to hold together a complex collaboration among designers, cultural organizations, artists, funders, and city agencies.

Challenges
Turnout NYC was not a single event or a single place. It was a citywide platform with many voices.

The brand had to be cohesive without feeling rigid, civic without feeling institutional, and celebratory without becoming generic. It needed to support a wide range of performances and communities, from dance and spoken word to fashion, music, workshops, and public gatherings.

The graphic system also had to live in the real city: under train tracks, in parks, on plazas, on waterfronts, and in neighborhoods where visibility, clarity, durability, and invitation all mattered.

Outcome
Turnout NYC launched across all five boroughs, activating varied public spaces including a cul-de-sac in Brooklyn, a historic park in Staten Island, a de-mapped street in Queens, a plaza under the Metro-North tracks in Harlem, and an outdoor community campus in the Bronx.

The program hosted more than 100 free public events, supported more than 500 artists, and brought community-led cultural programming to thousands of New Yorkers.

The visual identity helped give the initiative a recognizable presence across public spaces, signage, stage graphics, digital communications, and social media. It also gave local partners a shared system they could adapt, extend, and make their own.

“Turnout NYC has a cool, vibrant image thanks to Rafael and the Alfalfa Studio team.”

—Akemi Sato, Director of Programs, Design Trust for Public Space

Beyond the Results
Turnout NYC demonstrated how design can help make public space more visible, usable, and welcoming. The initiative showed that a strong identity system can do more than promote a program: it can help connect partners, invite participation, create pride, and support a scalable civic model.

By combining visual clarity with local flexibility, Turnout NYC became a platform for community expression — one that celebrated the cultural life already present in New York’s neighborhoods and helped bring it into the public realm.n text goes here