A brand and visual identity for a new organisation that deserves to lose its previous negative public associations.
The key challenge with creating a brand for Social Work England was that their critical audience are service users – not customers. At the start of the project, Social Work England were clear that they wanted to co-create an identity with everyone who has an interest in social work including professionals and people who need their support. Through an online survey and focus groups, we constructed an evidence base from which we could attempt to unpick and understand the complexity of the space in which Social Work England operates. This collaborative approach meant addressing some fundamental questions about Social Work England’s role, challenging their thinking, and going beyond simply creating a logo and some colour options.
Approach
Throughout the process, we constantly wrestled with language to ensure that this work went beyond cliché marketing rhetoric and put this process of insight and learning at its core. Once the brand values were established, we worked on the creative direction to translate these into a visual narrative. Three options were presented to the client and refined through workshops in a co-design process. We have created a flexible, functional and distinguishable identity with a look and feel that is uncharacteristic for a government agency. Vivid colours, bold and friendly typography, lively illustration, animations and set of unique icons all work in harmony to help communicate Social Work England’s specialist role and new approach. Flexible line drawings reflect the space social work occupies in society – overlapping and shifting; sometimes in unpredictable ways.
“Your work has massively shaped our approach to look at
things through a new lens, giving us the confidence to be
bolder in our approach to regulating a profession that makes a difference to millions of people. You have been a part of our journey from the start and the story of how we developed our identity has been integral to the regulator we will become and our values as an organisation.”
Katie Florence, Head of Communications at Social Work England.
“We have had a great experience working with you. The staff here have been very positive about their work with you and most importantly the outcome of it all is great.If you want me to talk to anyone by way of recommendation please do not hesitate. I am sure we will work together on other projects into the future.”
– Colm Conway, Social Work England.