Mark Zuckerberg's Meta has paid off PR firms to spread lies about its competitors, and Elon Musk is set to buy and privatize Twitter in an attempt to make it a "bastion of free speech." Are these the things we really expect to have happen in our free and egalitarian internet?

Who Decides What We Say on the Internet?

Social Media is not the egalitarian space for information that you might believe it to be.

Regular

Three tools stand between you and getting a perfect portrait of your digital programs. Want to see our recommendations? Click to learn more.

Reporting, Made Easy

Our tools and tricks for digital reporting on demand

Learn how to spot credible social media and become a more savvy online consumer.

Social Media's Red Flags

How Gary Vee Thinks about NFTs | My First Million #209 with Gary Vaynerchuk

Get all the digital and social media predictions that are fit to print, or at least type, from The Black Sheep Agency.

2022 Digital Forecasting

The online landscape is about to get a whole lot more wild.

Let’s look ahead to a world run by Gen Z.

The Generation of Forward Thinking

Understanding the vibrant lifestyles of a new generation.

Gen Z on Exploring Identity

What to know about the next generation of social change.

The Activism of Generation Z

Top 5 Takeaways from our November Workshop

Get the Workshop recap on 2022 nonprofit planning (and see what's to come!). 

The Top 5 Takeaways from our November Workshop 

Don't Succumb to Inevitability

The Metaverse is a term to describe something that isn't good, so why are Mark Zuckerberg and Tim Sweeny so interested in making it a reality? Let's take a consequences based look at the Metaverse, and discuss whether it's a new digital playground, or an inevitable dystopian capitalist nightmare.

The Metaverse

I went to the Metaverse and all I got was this stupid t-shirt.

The Age of Isolation

The Instagram Infographic Industrial Complex

How to create and share information and infographics on social media platforms like Instagram without exploiting relevant issues for engagement.

Let's learn how to bring action into the digital world, instead of noise and spectacle.

What responsibility does advertising have for supporting a creative middle class? We're about to find out.

Yearning for a Creative Middle Class

There's nothing wrong with finding some middle ground. 

Vanity metrics are great, sure, but how can we measure real social change?

How to Measure A Movement

Tangible social impact data is like the holy grail for organizations aiming for real-world change. It can also be frustratingly elusive and hard to capture accurately. So, how do we fix that?

BEEPLE EXPLAINS: What is an NFT ?

NFTs have had an unbelievable impact on the digital art scene, but is it worth our time?

Should we care about NFTs?

Every day, there’s something new in the world of NFTs. 

iOS 14. Facebook. Apple. And us. Who will win as tech giants battle it out for our data and our future?

Facebook vs. The World

You can’t deny the power of the Tube, and it’s a great tool to use if you’re a small business owner, artist, writer, gamer, or all of the above.

How to get results on YouTube

You don't have to be a trendy blogger to get results with YouTube.

The jingle? Dead? Not in 2020—not if you think about it.

Now Is the Time for Jingles

Back in September, I witnessed something that jogged some much-lodged information out of my skull. 

As COVID-19 has driven us apart, online community hubs, like Ethel's Club, are finding ways to safely bring us back together and redefine an online experience.

Connecting in Crisis

The last eight months have redefined the word “community” for all of us. 

Privacy Concerns Fuel Executive Order, But the Real Threat Isn’t TikTok

What's really at play concerning the TikTok executive order.

We all know that data is important, but it’s so interesting how tricky it can be when it’s being used to uncover or decide our truths and making our daily decisions. And this is a phenomenon that is far from new.

Data, deaths and dresses

I’ve been thinking a lot about data and how it tells stories about the human existence recently. 

We’re thrilled to introduce you to Houston Landing, a local nonprofit newsroom with no paywalls—ever—providing essential journalism that empowers our communities. 

In a world where misinformation runs rampant and affects our mental health, even the most credible news organizations struggle with transparency. That’s why the work Houston Landing does is not only powerful, it’s necessary. Their passion for verifiable, impactful and essential journalism is clear in everything they do. 

The Black Sheep team partnered with their team to develop a brand identity that would generate a stellar first impression and begin the path of building trust with Houstonians. Here's a look at how we made that happen:

Thoughtful. Reliable. Authentically Houston.

We began with a discovery and research process to understand the local news landscape and larger cultural trends for both news media and Houston. We learned their brand identity would need to be authentically Houston while carefully differentiating from other outlets—walking a tightrope between signaling something new and matching the energy of the city.

The new logo is dynamic with blocks of color that are always shifting, reflecting the dynamic energy of Houston itself. The logo also resembles the lines and columns of a newspaper story. The colors are meant to feel creative, energetic and fresh, stepping away from the usual reds and blues you commonly find in other outlets.

Essential Journalism. Empowered Communities.

The tagline reinforces the news team's two key goals. The first: do the necessary work to shine a light on injustice and hold the powerful accountable. The second: reach historically underserved communities in ways that reflect and represent the diversity of Houston, providing the information needed to drive change.

We designed a series of collateral to introduce the new media outlet and partnered with Digital Citizen to engage the City and give the community somewhere to go to learn more upon launch. We also developed messaging that would make it easy to introduce the organization, capturing their values in hopes of building trust with their audiences and answering initial questions or doubts.

The work that Houston Landing does is not only powerful, it’s needed. Their passion for verifiable, impactful and essential journalism is clear in everything they do. It’s rare to encounter a team of people so committed to their values and their city. 

In the fourth largest and most diverse city in the nation, it was time for Houston to have a resource like this. Backed by the Houston Endowment, the Kinder Foundation and Arnold Ventures, the American Journalism Project and the Knight Foundation, we are proud to have built this work for Houston, for all of us, and look forward to watching it come alive!

If you’re eager to support this important work, head over to the Houston Landing website and subscribe so you don’t miss out. And if you're working on something special that will impact our community in a powerful way and you need a partner, we are ready to connect.

Houston Landing is a local nonprofit newsroom with no paywalls to provide essential journalism that empowers our communities.

Meet Houston Landing: designing the next frontier of local news

A new, nonprofit and nonpartisan news outlet for local voices.

In a world where misinformation runs rampant, we are thrilled to be a part of the Houston Landing launch as we passionately support verifiable, impactful and essential journalism.

The Black Sheep blog is turning up the volume on community engagement, social media strategy, Houston happenings and what it means to lead a purpose-driven life.

The Black Sheep Agency | Social impact and nonprofit blog

We like to type as much as we like to listen.

We're not shy.