Design Identity Launch
A launchpad of (re)imagining and (re)visioning for ThisAbility® Limited 3.0 – Radical, Anti-Ableist, Anti-Racist, Interdependent, Accessible, Healing, and Regenerative.
Hey, friends! How is your Bodymind today?
Joyful Friday!
Our friend and Advisor, Cindy Gallop, best says:
[Open Quote] “Shared Values + Shared Action = Shared Profit – that’s financial profit and social profit.” – [End Quote]
I’m creating shared value through my business, ThisAbility® Limited, because I believe in Access Intimacy, interdependence, and Revolutionary LOVE®—always. In these scary times, I recognise that, in isolation, nothing is achieved, and community care is what we need. I also acknowledge that I can no longer accept “business as usual” in these critical times of poly-crisis. It’s also okay to have joy (and celebrate our progress) because just two ways the system of oppression destroys our lives is by forcing us into toxic working cultures and stealing joy (as well as not allowing us to grieve as we need). However, I understand that there is no joy without grief, and there’s no grief without joy, as well as the fact that I don’t have to put up with toxic working cultures.
As the Founder and Chief Radical Officer here at ThisAbility® Limited (and as a Global Majority1 Disabled AF Oracle) within Crip Time2, I’m being radical and publicly sharing and celebrating my business’ joy today.
For me, it’s always progression over perfection.
There is no other way for me to work and exist. I choose this way as a radical act of joy and our lifetime commitment to Disability (and Disabled people).
I lead my business this way, too.
So, following my previous post celebrating our eighth birthday last month and as yesterday marked the start of UK Disability History Month, I am delighted to share some joy today: Our sacred (new) Design Identity. Exciting!
Read the full Design Identity Launch below:
A Message from Sulaiman
Bold, wild, and fearless. I’m proudly the Founder and Chief Radical Officer at ThisAbility® Limited.
However, before we proceed, three things to note:
Whatever and however you see in my Disabled AF Bodymind, I don’t give a fuck. I owe you nothing.
Whether or not I “inspire” you, I don’t wanna know.
I’m (re)imagining the story I tell about myself and the story I’m creating for myself in interdependence and Revolutionary LOVE®.
Community Commitment
Like all my work and everything I create, I want to start with a Community Commitment to set the tone for this blog post and this sacred (new) Design Identity, as below:
Safe and brave space. Create safety within Access Intimacy for People of the Global Majority1 and those who are at the intersection of multiple systems of oppression, and be a brave space for those who are traditionally centred.
No shade, no judgment. Get comfortable with being uncomfortable with compassion and grace for ourselves and each other.
Be ready to (re)learn. Be open-minded, open-hearted, and open-spirited to practice curiosity, compassion, and courage together with an ethic of progression over perfection.
Space for interdependence and love. Nothing is done in isolation, and we have Revolutionary LOVE® as our North Star.
Be radical. Because we must “grasp things at the root”, as Angela Y. Davis says, for all of us (by blood or bond, human and more-than-human, and our inner and ourselves) to get free together.
About me
Who’s this?
Daringly integrating Disability. I’m a multiple award-winning Disabled AF: Founder, Speaker, and Activist. I’m a Disabled Oracle.
I’m the Founder and Chief Radical Officer at ThisAbility® Limited, a Disabled (and Person of The Global Majority)-owned Disability Justice business. A sought-after radical speaker, I’m a joyful activist from his first breath, with every breath until my last breath.
Ultimately, my life’s work and goal are to create radical, infinite, interdependent ecosystems of care (and curiosity) design, Access Intimacy for collective liberation, and acts of daily Revolutionary LOVE®.
Read the Google Doc to learn more about me.
Disabled designer of my dreams
I wish to give my infinite Revolutionary LOVE® and gratitude to my dearest Disabled friend, the legendary Disabled Designer Jessica Oddi. Jessica created the bold and rich complete Design Identity (logos, website, type, templates, assets, etc.–all custom) for ThisAbility® Limited as an act of access love with the (re)centring of Disabled folks in mind. I absolutely love it all!
Jessica is the Disabled Designer of my dreams:
I chose to work with the Disabled designer Jessica Oddi.
I wanted to work with Jessica because I value Jessica’s wisdom, and I wanted to invest in Disabled people.
I wanted to create a redesign that was accessible, playful, and joyful.
Jessica was my first choice to commission for this project.
I couldn’t be prouder that we have worked with the living legend, the Disabled Designer
on this sacred project. Thank you, Jessica! We love you xIntentions
Our intentions for ThisAbility® Limited were created in interdependence and Access Intimacy. They include:
Our intent was to refresh the ThisAbility® Limited identity by Sulaiman and Kerry Roper with updated accessibility practices.
The design focuses on block layouts, rich imagery, and overlapping space with good contrast.
Base colours and type similar to Revolutionary LOVE® and Sulaiman R. Khan.
Colours Palette
The palette has been custom-tailored to ThisAbility® Limited. Light and dark bases pair violets and blues.
Logos
Three logos in light and dark modes. One thing you'll notice is that it is an updated version of the original design identity so that we can give proper props to them.
We definitely, yes, updated the icon so that it could represent Crip Time. So what we did was made the ring around. There are two triangles to kind of make it look like a hourglass. And then inside those triangles are cut out squares with a ring around the edge. And what we did with the ring was overlap the top hourglass on the one half and then the bottom hourglass on the other half so that it could be intertwined.
And right, we (Disabled people) all work in Crip Time and it's all revolving. Then what we did was we kind of reiterated those shapes that we used in the icon that we actually dotted the I in this with, in ThisAbility with a circle. And then in Ability, we dotted the I with the square and the triangle so that we could kind of like emulate that in the word.
What was really cool too is we played with the way ability works and the way the typeface works to kind of flow together and we changed the font weights of each of them so that it would stand out. And then we could have a balance
between the icon and like the registered
limited symbol in the end.
Main Logo
Text Logo
Icon
Accessibility
The Design Identity has accessibility built into its heart with care and Access Intimacy:
This is not an accessibility statement solely for compliance. This website was a collaboration between myself for ThisAbility® Limited and Disabled designer Jessica Oddi. It was developed with the core belief that Access is Love — the incredible project by Alice Wong, Mia Mingus, and Sandy Ho.
We are in community to constantly learn, unlearn, and change practices. If you're a Disabled comrade, we'd love to know about your experience on this site.
Want to flag issues, or leave some love? Contact Sulaiman (subject: Accessibility) or email Jessica (oddi[dot]jessica[at]gmail.com) for assistance.
[Open Quote] “Accessibility is a necessity and not a luxury. That why, along with anti-racism, decolonisation, and anti-oppression work and daily existence through active, tangible progress and actions: Without centring Accessibility (in all its forms for Disabled people), anti-ableism, and Disability Justice in all social justice movements, there is no movement.” [End Quote]
– Sulaiman R. Khan – سلیمان راشد خان.
Website
One of the wonderful things we did was also create a grayscale mode on the website. So what we did was if you decide to go in grey mode, all of the blues and purples will be changed to greys so that it's a little more calming to your eye.
What we have on both sites is there is a fixed menu–a vertical navigation menu on the left side and then behind that is a very faded kind of deep, rich purpley blue. It’s ike a galactic like gorgeousness background.
And a cool feature about the navigation on the side menu is that when it collapses onto mobile, it goes to the top. On bigger screens or if you shrink the screen height, there's a scroll bar. So if anything overflows, there's no cropping.
You can kind of keep the menu up while you're navigating through the site because all of the main content on the site takes up about, I'd say, 70% of the screen width to the right. Then we have a menu at the bottom that has like drop down menus to break down the site navigation a little easier for everyone so they can go exact where they want to go.
What Jessica is really obsessed with and kind of love is that at the top of the site to the left we have the ThisAbility® Limited text logo. But then to the right at the top corner and it doesn't overlap is a fixed Crip Time icon in Picton blue or if you're in the grey mode in white. And that stays on the screen while you're scrolling through the site too.
So, it was a really fun project and we really enjoyed kind of implementing different accessibility ways.
We would love your feedback on it.
I love so much!
This Design Identity Launch marks a new era for ThisAbility® Limited 3.0 – A launchpad of (re)imagining and (re)visioning for us, if you will.
If you dare, check it out and share!
Wheeling, forwards
So, as a reminder, who are we?
Disability, daringly. ThisAbility® Limited works with socially conscious brands to tackle deep-rooted ableist systems to enact Disability Justice. We are driven to help these brands divest from ableism to become anti-ableist ecosystems and shift from socially conscious to socially impactful by integrating Disability culture. In doing so, ThisAbility® Limited helps to reset cultural standards (values, beliefs, and narratives) and catalyse a fundamental paradigm shift toward Disability liberation.
We are planting anti-ableism into creativity. Right now, we’re helping socially conscious brands become anti-ableist, socially impactful ecosystems. Our services include training, public speaking, consulting, creating accessible and liberated ecosystemic design, and creative strategy. In short, we aim to create a more accessible and just world where Disabled people can thrive and succeed, not despite their Disabilities and accessibility needs, but because of them.
As a Certified B Corporation™ business and a business proudly owned (and led) by “a Global Majority Disabled AF Oracle”, we are an unapologetic, fully remote team currently based across the UK, with a global footprint. Our eclectic team, representing a broad spectrum of Disabilities, is at the heart of our B Corp certification. This certification means we’ve made a legally binding commitment to prioritise the needs of our staff, clients, community, and the planet (including flora, fauna, and funga) before the needs of our shareholders, ensuring everyone feels valued and ethically represented.
We work tirelessly to ignite, amplify, and invest in Disabled creativity worldwide, thereby ensuring a liberated future for Disabled people and, ultimately, collective liberation for us all (human and more-than-human).
Our business may be limited in name, but we are unlimited in imagination.
That said, as ThisAbility® Limited is a Certified B Corporation–and we exist in an anti-oppressive praxis (namely anti-capitalist, anti-ableist, and anti-racist)–I see this new Design Identity launch as a stepping stone for my business to become a fully regenerative business in harmony above balance with (and not for) nature and our sacred ecosystems through Disability Justice and Funga Justice.3 Furthermore, I am not hating, I am just stating: the year ending 28 February 2025 may be the last year that my business exists simply due to a lack of long-term, sustainable income, not because I don’t get any joy from it. However, whatever time it has left, may I continue to be curious, compassionate, and courageous in leading my business, and may ThisAbility® Limited start thriving, not merely surviving as part of my legacy. Bold, wild, fearless. Always. I trust myself, my ancestors, my descendants, my Disability, the universe, fungi, trees, nature, my wisdom, my richness, Disability Justice, joy, grief, Access Intimacy, interdependence, and Revolutionary LOVE® to guide me.
Here’s to more new radical, accessible, and interdependent adventures to continue centring Disability, daringly!
As I always say, [Open Quote] “Onwards and Upwards.” [End Quote]
Are you in?
People of the Global Majority: coined by Rosemary M. Campbell-Stephens, MBE is [Open Quote] “a collective term that first and foremost speaks to and encourages those so-called, to think of themselves as belonging to the majority on planet earth. It refers to people who are Black, African, Asian, Brown, dual-heritage, indigenous to the global south, and or, have been racialised as ‘ethnic minorities’. Globally, these groups currently represent approximately eighty per cent (80%) of the world’s population, making them the global majority now, and with current growth rates, notwithstanding the COVID-19 pandemic, they are set to remain so for the foreseeable future. Understanding that singular truth may shift the dial; it certainly should permanently disrupt and relocate the conversation on race.” [End Quote] (R. Campbell-Stephens, 2020). This term aligns wholeheartedly with my Disabled AF British-Pakistani existence and Queer creative energy. It is my way of wheeling away from all systems of oppression, including but not limited to me no longer being capitalism’s plaything, ableism’s commodity, racism’s tool for power, colonialism’s puppet for violence, white supremacy culture’s fetish for manipulation, cis-able neocolonial-racist-supremacist heteronormative patriarchy’s armour for bullying, and oppression’s pawn for harm.
Like nature, particularly Fungi, and through my radical and badass leadership, I work, live, exist, play, and love in Crip Time. I lead ThisAbility® Limited in the same way. In short, Crip Time is the bending of time (and time travel) that Disabled people (especially Global Majority Disabled folks) are experts in practising; it centres Disabled bodies and minds by and for Disabled people through Access Intimacy for systemic change, interdependence, and for collective liberation.
Funga Justice is a term I coined and am still exploring a working definition for, but ultimately, it centres Fungi in a human-centric world. The term is influenced and ignited by the work of Giuliana Furci, Dr Merlin Sheldrake, Paul Stamets, and Global Majority and Disabled Mycologists.