Quinta Essentia: An alchemist’s term meaning the fifth element beside fire, water, earth, and air; the element that is necessary to explain the diversity and multiplicity of life, the finest or best of any substance.

This concept was the inspiration for our name and captures the essence of what we set out to accomplish with E5. We started with the tools and materials available to anyone in our industry and with our knowledge, experience and passion made them more than the sum of their parts.

When it comes to storytelling — from branding and strategy, to content creation, to digital marketing — it’s about digging deeper, confronting the emotional work, and telling that story authentically. That is the work that matters and what makes a brand or cause stand out, be heard and find their tribe – starting with a great story makes it easier to inspire change.

Element Five is a San Francisco based branding and strategy agency that exists to help nonprofits and companies of conscience to better define, tell, and spread their stories, helping them to get to the work that really matters: the work of changing the world for the better.

We believe that the business of branding, marketing and all visual communications can work as powerful tools of change and are obsessed with how we can leverage them to inform, educate, spark discourse and facilitate positive change. We aim to leverage our skills and our business to support underrepresented organizations and communities working on issues of social justice and economic equality. Finally, we hope to help more for-profit companies to join us in this or similar work – using their own leverage for good.