Four Black Sheep move up making this a real “Promoted Post”

When it comes to our agency, we don’t beat around the bush about how important the people are.

Regular

This past summer, I met my family in Junction, Texas to kayak the south fork of the Llano River.

The Disappearing Art of Iconography

Condensed

Ritual vs routine: Developing habits that matter

Are you a habitual habit maker/breaker? Me too.

Unexpected: Building creativity through small rebellions

Reveling in the unexpected should be your next #lifegoal and brand strategy.

Reveling in the unexpected should be your next #lifegoal and brand strategy. Here are 5 tips to become memorable shared by our Creative Director Jo Skillman at the Creative Circles Conference 2018.

The radical act of being your authentic self

How to start a movement | Derek Sivers

The importance of being a follower in today’s leader-obsessed society

I tend to be the person who doesn’t like being the center of attention.

Empowerment through education and bucking the damn system

Our collective brains are abuzz with back-to-school feels – but education is a daily obsession at Black Sheep.

Our collective brains are abuzz with back-to-school feels – but education is a daily obsession at Black Sheep. Read on for two book reports covering the promise of student-empowered learning and the impact of education on an unlikely Ph.D. candidate with a conflicting past.

Empower: What Happens When Students Own Their Learning

Reading Rainbow: Take a look. It’s now in a podcast.

Reading used to be a way to get ahead in class or learn a new thing or word.

Reading used to be a way to get ahead in class or learn a new thing or word. It was a way for me to escape, yes, but in a fun and adventurous way. Now, reading is more of an escape in a real way. My life is busy, the world around me is kind of a mess right now—I just want to forget about it sometimes.

The power of design process as told through a poster series

The Black Sheep team loves process as much as we love the written word and the visual art form.

The Black Sheep team loves process as much as we love the written word and the visual art form. By nature of the work we do, we love smashing words, visuals and heart together – mesmerized by how they intersect to create a powerful, lasting message.

How to interview like a late night talk show host

Barbara Walters, Stephen Colbert, David Letterman—we’re coming for you.

Barbara Walters, Stephen Colbert, David Letterman—we’re coming for you. Ever wonder how the pros make media interviews look so effortless?

Read on for a Top 10 Media Interview Tips List (you know, Letterman style) from a seasoned interview pro in his own right: Craig Cohen, host and executive producer of Houston Matters.

The hidden power of smiling | Ron Gutman

At Black Sheep, we talk a lot about rebellion and activism. We’re known to enjoy protesting, wheatpasting and the occasional theft of an inanimate animal.

Smile Like Your Life Depends On It

University of Texas at Austin 2014 Commencement Address - Admiral William H. McRaven

The first step to changing the world is making your bed.

Change the World by Changing Your Sheets

The first step to changing the world is making your bed. 

You’d never think that changing the world starts out with something as mundane as tidying up the bed before you start your day. We don’t realize our lives can undergo a drastic change through things that aren’t grand and bold. The little things matter too, y’know.

The Flying Busman - Mickey Mahan

How to Successfully “Fail” and Win at Life

What others consider failure, may be your biggest accomplishment.

We need to talk about an injustice | Bryan Stevenson

Talking About Injustice… and Other Topics

I recently revisited a book I received a long time ago called Talk Like Ted.

I recently revisited a book I received a long time ago called Talk Like Ted.

In it, they do case studies of some of the most successful Ted Talks. One of them was Bryan Stevenson’s “We Need To Talk About an Injustice.” It received the longest standing ovation for a Ted Talk at the time.

Mentor Me This: Natalie Dishes on the Perks of Being in the Loop

It was a sweltering August day when I, at the age of 21, drove from my small hometown in Louisiana to Houston to start my new life with my new husband.

It was a sweltering August day when I, at the age of 21, drove from my small hometown in Louisiana to Houston to start my new life with my new husband. He likes to joke that he never actually saw me driving my car because I’d followed him so closely that I wasn’t visible in the mirrors. I’d graduated that summer with my B.F.A. and was eager to begin my grown-up career in graphic design. Pedal to the metal, despite how intimidated I was heading in this new direction.

2 billion impressions is great, changing the future with college bound students is better

First impressions matter, right?  So what happens after 2 BILLION impressions?

First impressions matter, right?  So what happens after 2 BILLION impressions?  We found out with our Michelle Obama’s #CollegeSigningDay partnership this year.

Moving Forward | Uber

Facebook Here Together (UK)

That’s a Lot of Money to Say You’re Sorry

How to Build a Movement: The 4 Pillars of Community Activation

Movements change people.  Changed people change the world.

Building A Team That’s Out of This World

Everyone has a podcast these days. So finding one to binge-listen in the midst of a road trip can be hard. Lucky for me, I stumbled upon The Habitat.

Do something about gun violence and #WearOrange

So, here we are. Again. Reeling from more school shootings, questioning our priorities as a nation.

So, here we are. Again. Reeling from more school shootings, questioning our priorities as a nation. In our home state, we watch for real action against gun violence as Texas Governor Abbott apparently has a plan.

There’s a particular kind of project that doesn’t feel like a project.

It feels like something else entirely. Over Black Sheep’s 16 years, we’ve learned to recognize these engagements — the ones where the stakes are real, where the mission is load-bearing, where getting the story right genuinely changes what’s possible for the people an organization serves. We’ve also learned that these are the projects we want to fill our days with.

Right now, our roster is full of them. I want to talk about that — not as a highlight reel, but as a reflection of what we believe this work is for. And if you’re leading one of these organizations right now and it feels heavy or uncertain or like your story isn’t keeping pace with your mission, this is for you too.


Some projects aren’t a single scope — they’re a relationship, built over time, through the kind of trust that only comes from doing hard things together.

Houston Arts Alliance is in one of the most pivotal moments in its history. A new CEO — the first woman and person of color to lead the organization — has stepped into a role that carries both enormous expectation and extraordinary possibility. We are building alongside them from the ground up: immediate messaging and leadership transition tools, a mission and vision refresh, a public education campaign, a community engagement process and a full brand foundation. Long, layered, listening-first work. Some of our favorite kind.

Houston Parks Board is marking its 50th anniversary at the start of an exciting new chapter — bold new leadership, a visionary strategic plan and a future that has been a century in the making. We’re evolving their brand to match the scale of that moment. Being trusted when the foundation is strong and the future is wide open is its own kind of honor.

Good Reason Houston is an organization we know well — we built their original brand in 2018, and they’ve called on us at several points of strategic inflection since. This is one of those moments. The world these leaders are navigating looks almost nothing like it did seven years ago, and our work together right now is about finding language that tells their story with clarity and confidence for where things are today.

Civic Builders designs, finances and builds educational facilities in underserved communities across the country. We completed a full messaging and positioning strategy with them, and we’re now deep into their visual identity system — in genuine collaboration with their extraordinary internal team. This partnership is the kind we aspire to: the work belongs to all of us.

The Greater Houston Partnership is building an AI-powered tool to connect educators, employers and community partners in ways that expand workforce opportunity. We’re building the brand that makes it accessible and credible from day one.

Fervo Energy is redefining what clean energy looks like. We are their strategic design partner — giving visual and creative form to the complexity of what they’re building, because a breakthrough technology deserves a story told with equal craft.

The University of Nevada, Reno trusted us to direct a digital campaign for their Black Youth Mental Health Initiative — designed to reach young people at the right moment, in the right channels and keep them connected to support that can change the trajectory of their lives. This follows our branding and strategy work for their CDC-sponsored Safer Nights opioid overdose prevention campaign last year.

The Center for Civic and Tech Life is now publishing a magazine for local election officials — the people who make democracy function at the ground level. We named and developed the publication’s visual identity, because this community deserves tools that reflect the seriousness of their work.

In collaboration with January Advisors, we’re working with the League of Women Voters Houston on a set of core values and a strategic plan built for what comes next. The League has been doing this work longer than most organizations have existed. Helping them articulate where they’re headed is not something we take lightly.

Much of this work is happening in Houston — the city where Black Sheep was founded, where many of us live and where we feel the stakes of these institutions personally. When you’re a Houstonian working on Houston, it stops being a client list and starts being something else.

It takes something to make this call. The leaders we work with aren’t doing it because things are easy — they’re doing it because they’ve decided that a story that can’t carry the mission is a liability they can’t afford. That takes clarity about what’s actually at stake. It takes a willingness to look honestly at the gap between where you are and how you’re being perceived. And it takes the kind of courage that doesn’t always get named as courage — the quiet decision to invest in something foundational when there are a hundred urgent things competing for the same resources.

But the thread running through all of it — local and national — is the same: find the organizations doing the most necessary work, and make sure their story is strong enough to carry their mission forward.

If your organization is in a moment that demands more clarity, more confidence or a story that finally matches where you’re headed — we’d love to be in that room with you.

A reflection on 16 years of learning which projects are worth our days — and the mission-driven organizations we're building alongside right now.

The Work That Doesn't Feel Like Work | Black Sheep Agency

What it takes to build a story strong enough to carry a mission forward.

A reflection on the partnerships filling our roster right now — and what it takes for mission-driven organizations to build a story strong enough to carry their work forward.

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.

The Work That Doesn’t Feel Like Work