Summary
A new positioning and refreshed identity for an extraordinary international development organisation. Working closely and iteratively with the Practical Action brand team, Dan went back to the organisation’s first principles to unlock the answers.
Challenge
How does an international development organisation make the step-change from small niche player to ambitious influencer? One particular issue to overcome was that Practical Action internationally had been pulling in lots of different directions – this played out in a schizophrenic brand architecture.
Technique
The branding process helped to galvanise change across the organisation. Deep consultation gave everyone licence to talk about their successes and reassess their role in the bigger picture. This had the positive effect of reigniting people’s enthusiasm for the organisation they worked for.
Diagnosis
An amazing group with a people-centred way of working, solving the world’s toughest problems in ingenious ways. For example, re-greening the desert: against the odds, Practical Action is helping people beat the effects of climate change in places like North Darfur, one of world’s most drought-prone areas, with ingenious ideas around infrastructure design, farming techniques and renewable energy.
Strategy
Dan and the NB team repositioned the organisation as the ingenuity people and helped them reclaim their role as an alternative voice in the development sector. Not a ‘charity’ in the conventional sense but a multi-disciplinary group of problem-solvers inspiring people to be agents of their own destiny. Against the backdrop of a loss of trust in conventional charities, it made sense to ‘be less charity’.
Expression
Big change starts small. Taking its lead from Dan’s brand line, the visual identity dramatises the power of small actions to change the big picture. The system is based on the interplay between large and small motifs.
Impact
The CEO joked that when he first applied for the job, he’d asked the board to explain what Practical Action did. They handed him an 80-page A4 document. Dan reduced this to a sentence: Putting ingenious ideas to work so people in poverty can change their world.
Recognition
Drum Design Awards. Design For Good. Highly Commended. 2020.
Appreciation
“It’s early days, but after years of being under-loved, our refreshed brand is really starting to perform and help us move forward. The brand has helped to breathe life into our organisational strategy for staff, and made us more confident. It has given us the tools to communicate our purpose and position in clear and exciting ways, which are already starting to show returns in growing our supporter base and income. NB were so much more than an agency. They really were a vital, strategic partner.” Lisa Davies, Head of Brand & External Engagement, Practical Action
Credits
Designer: Olly St John / Creative Director: Nick Finney / Strategist: Louise Kyme / Clients: Lisa Davies, Rachel Hudson, Andrew Barnes / Client Manager: Tonje Holm
