Celebrating Everyone Through the Power of Design

At Metal Toad, inclusion is important to us. We have our monthly inclusion special interest group (SIG) that works hard to make sure our workplace is inclusionary and to give back to the community. But aside from that, our Toads create inclusionary spaces within our walls on their own accord.

Our Toads are proud of our brand and we can't get them enough swag to sport it. We live our core values of help, respect, curiosity, value, and experience — and part of design's aim is to make sure this line runs through everything that we create.

One of the ways our brand is truly special is that we let the Toads decide its output — at least when it comes to our emblem. Within our walls the emblem is a cherished piece of our identity. Walk through our office and you'll see drawings of our emblem on windows and whiteboards, and you'll see the emblem on hoodies strewn over the back of chairs, on yoyos and stickers on Toads' desks and in team rooms, altered to represent that specific team whose room you're standing in.

Within the company we have four development and cloud teams each with their own unique name, thought of by the team members of each group who have taken it upon themselves to create their own team logo, utilizing the emblem. The design team had no hand in their creation, yet these logos are a celebration of Metal Toad and its unique core values. Each Toad rallies around its team's emblem — it gives them a sense of inclusion and community and their emblems are a treasured piece of their team's identity.

This year, not only our emblem, but our logo, took a new step in inclusion. For Pride Month we revamped our logo to sport the LGBTQ+ flag, symbolizing that we celebrate everyone. Within the company this step was met with excitement and appreciation. You can see the logo on our website (for the month of June), our social media channels, and if you were at Portland's Pride Parade this year, you could see Toads and their families actively sporting the Metal Toad pride logo. Even after the parade, I see stickers of the Metal Toad pride logo on Toad's computers and notebooks, and hear other Toads asking if there are any stickers left.

At Metal Toad we cherish that design is used as a vehicle of inclusion. I personally can't wait to see what the Toads come up with next.