Beforehand

Challenge
Interpersonal touch has fallen out of culture. With the recent power shift and movements
demanding that inappropriate and violent touch no longer be ignored, people not knowing
what is and is not ok have stopped touching all together.

Solution
Introducing, Beforehand, a global brand that educates and inspires people to think,
ask, and talk well, beforehand. We took an approachable and non-threatening approach
to better reach and engage with our audience. We found in our research that rules are
made to be broken while boundaries are mutually communicated and agreed upon.

In order to establish boundaries for touch, we envisioned a three-tiered approach.

1. To educate on the importance of touch and boundaries.
2. To create awareness about the clear distinction between one’s intention
when touching and one’s reception of that same touch.
3. To inform on how to communicate and respect those boundaries. 

To introduce this approach we created June. We follow June along her journey of
understanding her own boundaries, how to express them as well as how to respect
and understand others boundaries.

We created a guidebook that helps navigate common touch scenarios as well as provide hand
and verbal signals to communicate your boundaries as well as understand others boundaries.

Beforehand We also created a website that is an important resource to learn the importance of touch,
the importance of boundaries, as well as quizzes to learn one’s own touch identity. Beforehand will
also exist as an educational platform, integrated into elementary schools, high schools, and universities,
encouraging people to think, ask, and talk beforehand. 

Team: SVA Masters in Branding, Michael Shirey, Maria Manuela Andrade,
Theresa Brondholt Sorensen, and Sophia Yuan.

Role: Strategist and Designer