“We don’t need any more writers as solitary heroes. We need a heroic writers’ movement: assertive, militant, pugnacious.” – Toni Morrison, 1981

In 2023, the design firm Cultivate Strategies was brought on to assist our union for a visual brand update. They held listening sessions, sent out surveys, & conducted a thorough brand audit to identify the best path forward. What they determined through that process is that our old logo, while having served our union well, was now outdated and in need of change. 

They also learned what members were looking for in a new logo: something trusted and credible, but bold and revolutionary; something welcoming & inclusive, that also matched the strong emotion and brand equity of FSP, our union’s Digital Media Division.

Last November, they presented us with two logo options that we sent out in a survey to all members, which garnered 143 responses. The winner of that survey received just 54% of the vote and was met with lukewarm feedback, so we went back to Cultivate Strategies and got two new options. 

In a second survey of those new options, 164 members expressed their opinions: 58% of the vote went to the winner, with qualitative feedback that was widely enthusiastic:

It’s bold and unforgettable, like the NWU.

It’s attention-grabbing, clear, and time-tested as a design language for labor organizing.

I like the way it emphasizes the growing expansiveness of our membership and the connections we’re building across all different types of media workers / freelancers while organizing under a shared NWU umbrella.

Thus, at the March 16 Special Delegate Assembly, voting members passed a motion to accept the rebranding committee’s recommendation for our new logo!

This is obviously a bold departure from the branding that’s led NWU for the last decade. But as Toni Morrison said in her keynote speech at the American Writers Congress in 1981 — the same event where a vote was passed to establish the National Writers Union — bold is exactly what we need. “We don’t need any more writers as solitary heroes,” she told that sold-out crowd of thousands. “We need a heroic writer’s movement: assertive, militant, and pugnacious.”

Moreover, Morrison asserted the need of structure to support that movement, without which we won’t be able to get past the “self-indulgent” individualism that has too long kept writers (and all other independent creative workers) from building meaningful power:

Romanticized and misapplied, individualism keeps us self-indulgent. It keeps us ignorant of contracts, of money, of benefits, of rights, of how the partnership between author and publisher ought to work, of the areas that threaten both publisher and writer. It keeps us in an adversary relationship at certain junctures where such a relationship is counterproductive. Individualism can also keep us dependent on foundation largesse, grants, fellowships, campuses, cloisters and handouts. And if things go on in this manner, individualism will idle us—it will keep us from the work we have to do.

We need protection in the form of structure: an accessible organization that is truly representative of the diverse interests of all writers. An organization committed to the rights of the few. And we need protection in the form of clarity, a knowledge of the limits of individualism and the private, indulgent suffering it fosters.

The National Writers Union is that structure. More specifically, we all, as the members of this union, are that structure together. We are doing the work. We are building the movement. And with this new logo and visual rebrand, we are showing the world just how bold our vision is.

Next weekend, from April 19-21, nearly 20 NWU members will be traveling to the Labor Notes Conference in Chicago, representing the union by speaking on panels covering topics ranging from free speech and Palestine, to using legislative wins to build worker power, to campus coalitions, and organizing remotely. The group will also be sporting T-shirts bearing our new logo alongside Toni Morrison’s call to arms. (You can catch some of the conference virtually by registering here!)

In the coming months, we’ll be working diligently to implement the new logo across our whole union identity – across social media, on merch, and on our website. Part of that transition will include a website redesign, and we’ll have updates on hiring a designer for that process soon.

Until then, we’ll continue bringing our bold vision to the world through our leadership in the fight for a writers’ movement – and a movement for all independent workers – that is assertive, militant, and pugnacious.

NOTE: An official set of guidelines about how and where the new logo may be used by chapters and individual union members will be available soon. In the meantime, please direct all questions about usage to comms@nwu.org.