Asian Mental Health Collective
Brand Strategy: James Wu, Mikal Aaron
Visual Identity: Boyang Xia
Website Design: Rey Carlson, Boyang Xia
Website Development: Tully Murray (The Good Pixel)
Asian Mental Health Collective (AMHC) started in 2020 with a viral Facebook group and the first Asian therapist directory. Since then, it has grown into the largest online community for Asians to connect, share, and learn about Asian mental health.
Studio Tomo was tasked to rebrand AMHC to feel more diverse and inclusive, and to strike a balance between sophistication, confidence, and playfulness. More importantly, it wanted to ensure that the brand felt culturally rooted and reflective of the rich Asian diaspora in the U.S.
Core to the rebrand was the development of a new purpose statement: “To foster a shared culture of care in our communities.” This served as an inspiration for the logo and various brand expressions designed to evoke a sense of belonging, compassion, and community.
In addition to developing AMHC’s new brand, the Studio Tomo team also redesigned and rebuilt the its website, created a suite of social assets and templates, and designed a series of new merch.
“Working with James and the Studio Tomo team during our rebrand helped AMHC step confidently into a new chapter. The process clarified not only how we present ourselves to funders, partners, and constituents, but also how we understand ourselves internally as a team: who we are, what we believe, and why we do this work.
James was a thoughtful and generous guide throughout. He took the time to build a shared understanding with our team and board of what branding could offer us, and approached the process with care, transparency, and proactive communication. I especially appreciated the intention and rigor behind the discovery and research phase, which included deep listening across our internal team and peers in the field to ensure the strategy developed truly reflected our priorities and aspirations.
The design and development team brought that vision to life with incredible creativity, precision, and flexibility, delivering a visual identity and website that is not only beautiful, but perfectly captures the spirit of who we are. Studio Tomo was curious, collaborative, and meticulous from start to finish, and we are so proud of the work we created together.”
— Ayesha Meer, Executive Director, AMHC
“What stood out to me about working with James and Studio Tomo was the team's genuine curiosity. They really wanted to understand who we are, and to help us to communicate our identity consistently across every visual and UX interface.
Also their project management, technical skills, sense of humor, creativity, and collaborative spirit made them a joy to work with. I'd recommend Studio Tomo to anyone looking to feel seen and supported in getting who you are authentically out to the world.”
— Lauren Pongan, Senior Director of Programming, AMHC