Client: Alessandra Orofino | upstream Media | Rio de janeiro, brazil

Upstream Media is a high-impact initiative working to counter global authoritarian dominance and build democratic, climate, and cultural resilience through acquisitions and influence in mass media and popular culture.

Project Brief

Founded by Alessandra Orofino (Obama Fellow), Upstream Media is a dual-entity initiative—part business, part non-profit—that acquires and influences cultural and media assets to counter authoritarian dominance and build long-term democratic, climate, and cultural resilience in Brazil and around the world. The far right has already seized culture. Upstream Media is building the infrastructure to win it back— by shifting values and mindscapes at scale.

  • Our client came to us with clearly-defined ideas, research, data and messaging. Where she needed our help was bringing her concept to life visually, in a way that would grab attention and be quickly understood and valued. Our job was to distill her content into a series of case studies and pitch decks with a brand voice that echoed its focus on popular culture, referenced nature and technology, and appealed to investors.

  • Following our rapid immersion, we conducted a dedicated naming session with the Founder & Chief Strategy Officer to arrive at a suitable and engaging name for the Initiative. Our collaborative workshop drew on insights gathered from the brand foundations, positioning work, and messaging development to ensure the name authentically reflected the initiative's purpose, values, and impact.

  • Working with Bel Lavratti, we created an initial visual identity system to bring the initiative to life. This included developing bespoke presentation templates in Canva for future materials, creating tailored A4 documents in Canva and Google Docs, and establishing foundational design elements such as photography style, typography, color palettes, and other visual components. These starting visuals provided a strong foundation that could be developed further as the initiative evolved.

  • Our work culminated in polished, professional presentations specifically designed for Climate Week NYC. These incorporated the brand narrative, messaging, and positioning we'd developed—clearly articulating what the initiative was about, how it worked, and who benefited. The presentations utilized copy based on the client’s executive summary, existing materials, responses to our brand questionnaire, all housed within the bespoke templates we developed, ensuring a consistent story and compelling visual presence.

View Sample Work

From our client’s notes and messaging, we created the brand look and feel and expanded this into several visual presentations, including an introduction to the concept, case studies, and an investor pitch deck for fundraising. These assets were first presented at Climate Week NYC and COP30 and will serve in the the future development of the organization’s dual-entity websites.

Next
Next

Eclipse