The National City Brownfields Assessment Project is an initiative of the SDSU Center for Regional Sustainability (CRS) in collaboration with the National City community to locate, assess, inventory and plan for reuse possibilities of brownfields in National City. As part of the design brief, CRS requested a branded campaign centered around community outreach with an emphasis on inclusion and  collaboration as well a refresh for the typography and lock-up of the Brownfields Assessment Project logo.

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National City has a majority Latino and Asian population, and is disproportionately affected by environmental racism. Due to zoning laws not coming into effect until after settlement and industrialization had taken place, many residences are adjacent to heavy industry and abandoned sites that formerly or currently are contaminated. Because of this proximity between housing and industry the residents of National City are at higher risk of developing health problems than those elsewhere in the county.

The challenges of this project included balancing the amount of information delivered to the public through the design, moving away from alienating academic language towards a more casual and friendlier tone, making sure to be clear on the intentions and limitations of the Brownfield Assessment Project, while also emphasizing the need for community input and mutual collaboration between SDSU and National City community members. Other considerations included the use of multi-lingual support in choosing typography and in the use of messaging, and creating a graphics system that is accessible for reuse to a non-designer.