Zulu Alpha Kilo NY Launches Limited-Edition NYC Merit Badges to Support GoVoteNYC

There’s an old Fran Lebowitz joke about how it’s so hard to live in New York that simply surviving it can give you a well-earned superiority complex.

Which is why Zulu Alpha Kilo New York is celebrating the quirks and chaos of life in the five boroughs with a new initiative designed to get New Yorkers voting. The indie agency has unveiled a limited-edition collection of 25 iron-on ‘New York City Merit Badges’, each commemorating a rite of passage unique to the city – from crying publicly on the subway to lugging a couch up five flights of stairs, avoiding SantaCon and the drip from an A/C unit above you, or even puking out of a moving cab, the badges capture the hyper-specific trials and triumphs of everyday New York life.

With all proceeds supporting non-partisan voter engagement organisation GoVoteNYC, the campaign turns civic participation into a show of pride. “Every day living in New York is its own sort of challenge,” says Chris Colliton, executive creative director at Zulu Alpha Kilo. “Tasks that are easy anywhere else become events. You do, some days, feel like you want a badge just for getting through it.”

But it’s not all struggle. New York is made up of 8.5 million people, most of whom find common ground in their shared pride of living in the city that never sleeps. “There are also so many wonderful shared experiences that you get to experience in such a fast-paced, diverse, eclectic city that are worth rewarding, too,” says Chris.

Connecting it to civic engagement was simple, adds Chris. They want to not only give back, but encourage other people to get involved in their communities. The timing worked out perfectly in that the badges were ready to be released right around the November 2025 New York City mayoral election, and voting and engaging in local elections is one of the easiest initial steps for people to get involved and express their care for the place in which they live.

“Scouts earn their badges through real life learning experiences, from archery to welding and everything in between,” he says. “These are all tasks they put effort into and accomplished, and many of them come to symbolise rites of passage. New York has its own unique set of challenges, teachable moments, and life experiences that we use as unofficial markers of whether or not someone has ‘earned’ their right to call themselves a New Yorker. We already trade these mile markers and anecdotes like war stories or metaphorical badges of honour in everyday conversations. Turning it from theoretical to literal felt like a no-brainer.”

Designed by local illustrator Clara Kirkpatrick and produced in New York, the vintage-inspired patches lean into the shared humour, resilience and idiosyncrasies of the city’s residents. “We have always admired Clara’s work,” says Chris. “She is one of those fantastic illustrators that can capture human emotion in even the small and simplest of drawings. Her ability to capture the spirit of the idea and make the badges easy to digest but always with a wink made her perfect for the job.”

From the jump, Clara got the essence of the idea. By the end of the first call, she and the Zulu Alpha Kilo team were throwing out ideas and building on the ones already there.

“It doesn’t hurt that she has earned many of these badges already living in NYC,” adds Chris. “When you live these experiences every day, it becomes easy to capture the universal truths without leaning on stereotypes that someone who isn’t as intimately familiar with the city may resort to. If anything, when we thought about all the possibilities for the badges, we had a harder time not leaning too niche.”

They may not be easily recognisable tropes like ‘dollar slice on every corner’ or ‘people are rude’, but, Chris believes they’re truthful, celebratory, and from a place of love. What’s more, for all involved, being able to capture these moments with humour was important, too. “Because they are often funny,” says Chris. “And if we couldn’t laugh at some of the stuff we endure to live here, we’d be across the Hudson instead.”

​Founded in Toronto, Zulu Alpha Kilo’s New York office is still relatively young, having just marked its third anniversary in its Williamsburg home. ‘New York City Merit Badges’ continues the agency’s focus on culturally rooted, cause-driven initiatives, following 2023’s Splash Spots for Street Lab developed with Group Project.

“We’re intent on continuing to put our stamp on things here,” says Chris. “Proactive projects are a part of building recognition. We also feel strongly, as New Yorkers, that we want to proactively pursue projects that give back to and fundamentally improve the city in which we not only work, but live, too.”

The full set of badges is available at nycmeritbadge.com, while supplies last.