BCJ — Andres Cortes Design

The Brennan Center for Justice at NYU Law is a nonpartisan law and policy institute working at the intersection of democracy, criminal justice, and the rule of law. Their work spans research, litigation, and public advocacy — reaching legal, political, and general audiences across multiple platforms.

As a Communications Design intern, I worked across social media, editorial, and digital — translating complex policy content into clear, visually consistent design.

SOCIAL MEDIA

I designed a set of custom Instagram highlights using line-based icons and brand colors, each representing a core content category: voting, explainers, podcast, and solutions. The goal was to keep them minimal and easy to read for any audience.

I also developed three post templates — for reports, articles, and editorial imagery — with flexible spacing and type hierarchy to accommodate different title lengths, names, and content types, so the team could use them consistently across posts.

For their Substack sub-brand, I explored a series of quote card layouts that felt connected to the BCJ visual identity while still working as their own thing within the Substack context.

INSTAGRAM CAROUSELS

The first, Congress Can't Stop Corruption, was based on a BCJ article. The task was to break it down into a format that was easy to follow on Instagram. I designed both the English and Spanish versions for Brennan en Español, keeping the content clear and the layout simple enough to read through without losing the message.

The second one was more graphic-heavy. I was given a set of assets and a statistics-dense story, so I focused on pulling the key data points forward and letting the visuals carry the narrative. I also thought about how individual slides could work on their own in case someone wanted to share a specific panel.

DATA VISUALIZATION

I designed two social media graphics centered on data, working within BCJ's color system and visual style.

The main challenge was taking dense information and presenting it in a way that was easy to read at a glance on social media.

CREATOR SUMMIT DECK

The BCJ Creator Summit is an event where the organization meets with social media content creators to discuss current topics and build community.

I designed the presentation deck for a trivia segment of the event, staying within their visual identity while making it engaging enough to hold the room.

ANNUAL REPORT — SPREAD DESIGN

I worked on a section of BCJ's annual report focused on innovative ideas the center had developed throughout the year.

I designed the spreads thinking about layout, spacing, and type hierarchy so the information was easy to move through and visually interesting, while still fitting with the rest of the report.

BRENNAN LEGACY AWARDS

The Brennan Legacy Awards is one of BCJ's flagship annual events. I worked on two pieces for it.

First the invitation design, developing an editorial, image-forward visual style that the team responded well to. From there, I used that same direction as the foundation for the landing page refresh. The existing page was mostly text, and they wanted something more visual and easier to navigate.

Second, I was given the task to refresh BCJ's Brennan Legacy Awards landing page. The existing page was mostly text, and they wanted something more image-forward and easier to navigate.

I designed prototypes in Figma for both desktop and mobile, drawing from the visual direction I had developed for the awards invitation. The layouts bring in more photography and organize the content in a way that's clearer and more fitting for the event.

LOOKING AHEAD

Through this project, I aimed to explore how design can bridge the gap between technology and financial literacy, using visual identity, UX principles, and branding consistency to build credibility.

This first stage presents the foundation of Monte’s brand, including its logo system, submarks, color palette, typography, and early UI mockups, as the starting point of the product’s identity and experience. By grounding the visuals in real audience insights and emphasizing trust and accessibility, this project demonstrates how thoughtful design can move beyond aesthetics to actively solve a problem and connect with users on an emotional level.