Free NOLA Logo
Human Trafficking Awareness
– Modern Day Slavery –
January 11th marks #HumanTraffickingAwarenessDay and my favorite logo just happens to be one I designed for Free Nola, an organization in New Orleans, Louisiana that fights against a horrifying epidemic — human sex trafficking. I designed this logo while working at Church of the King in Mandeville, Louisiana.
I learned about sex trafficking in high school while watching a documentary. I was shocked that this kind of stuff existed and I couldn’t believe how naïve I was to have just found out about it.
That documentary made a huge impact on me. This gut-wrenching topic was so eye-opening that I decided to write an essay on it in college; the statistics and unthinkable information I unraveled while researching changed me as a person. For those who don’t know about sex trafficking, it is defined as when an adult is required to engage in a commercial sex act as the result of force, threats of force, fraud, coercion, or any combination of such means, that person is a victim of trafficking.
And then, there is child sex trafficking — any child (under the age of 18) who has been recruited, enticed, harbored, transported, provided, obtained, advertised, maintained, patronized, or solicited to engage in a commercial sex act is a victim of trafficking regardless of whether or not force, fraud, or coercion is used.
I wish this industry that reaches over $150 BILLION A YEAR was only a horrific nightmare, but it is indeed a reality, a reality that is in our own backyards.
According to the Department of Children and Family Services 2018 Annual Report, 24 agencies submitted data for 681 confirmed and prospective victims of human trafficking in Louisiana. There have been 36 confirmed reports of trafficked victims from or found in St. Tammany Parish (my own backyard) and of those 36 reported victims, 29 are under the age of 17! New Orleans, our neighbors, reported a total of 181 trafficked victims and of those reports, 147 victims are confirmed to be under the age of 17. In this 2018 Annual Report, the age range of the sex trafficking victims is from 2 to 65. Let that just sink in.
So, as you can see, this hits too close to home and people need to know what is happening. I needed to craft this logo for Free Nola perfectly to portray the meaning behind it and, most importantly, it needed to speak for the victims waiting, hoping to be found.
I have to be honest and say that I put a lot of pressure on myself when designing this logo all because I wanted it to be perfect. I wanted it to speak on behalf of the lost victims while at the same time embracing NOLA’s artistic flare.
I was stuck for hours, but then, I started humming Amazing Grace. I was designing and praying that God would speak to me to make this logo come alive with purpose. I kept humming this song over and over then I realized the song itself was exactly what I was trying to capture, “I once was lost, but now am found.”
This logo wasn’t about a group of people that needed saving. This logo was about acknowledging every single individual living in modern day slavery. I felt in my heart it was important to put “I” within the tagline to represent and acknowledge every single individual just hoping to be saved.
As for the tree within the logo, Louisiana is known for its beautiful live oak trees, which makes a perfect backdrop for a family portrait. When you examine a live oak, you can see that the details get messier within the curvy branches, sporadic arrangements of moss, and bumpy roots that dangerously expel from the ground.
Looking closer, the tree becomes more complicated and complex. There is so much detail that we can only take in bits and pieces at a time without getting lost. The tree can be a bit messy when up close and personal, but when we look from afar, things just… make sense.
While the live oak tree in the logo added an appropriate amount of Louisiana flare that would capture Free Nola’s essence and brand aesthetics, I, again, knew it was important that every individual was acknowledged within this logo and I needed to somehow recognize each victim enslaved in this gruesome epidemic. At last, I determined to put a single face within the tree, something that would be hidden at first and then found later.
Do you see the face? Look at the face profile on the left side of the tree trunk.
There is so much behind this logo. So much meaning, passion, determination, perseverance, and so much hope. How can this logo not have a special place in my heart?
I think of my own daughters, hold them tight, and pray they know how loved they are.
I think of the lost adults and babies, and pray they are found and are freed from this indescribable torture once and for all.
I pray for the runaways that make up the majority of sex trafficking statistics.
I have developed a new perspective for myself to stay on high alert in public ESPECIALLY with my girls in tow.
This is heartbreaking. This is real. This needs to be exposed… constantly.
Human Trafficking is messy and complex. But Diane Amos, the Executive Director at Free Nola, says it best, "It takes a village to raise a child, but it takes a city to save a victim from sex trafficking."
Free Nola's mission is to bring awareness and stop the exploitation of men, women, and children.
For more information, or to learn how you can help, visit Free Nola’s website at www.FreeNola.org.
Free Nola. . . but now I’m found.