Image Credit : The Edison Agency
Illustrations by Caitlin Preyser
Project Overview
In Australia, statistics show that 1 in 4 women experience intimate partner violence and that domestic and family violence is the principal cause of homelessness for women and their children.
Evolving from a deep-rooted commitment to support these families fleeing domestic violence, Next Steps Australia (NSA) embarked on a transformative journey in collaboration with The Edison Agency. Recognizing the critical need for a new brand identity to anchor their mission, NSA's visionary Chairperson, Bernadette Blair, initiated a partnership aimed at amplifying their voice and fostering future growth.
The project's cornerstone was a comprehensive design strategy and brand identity system, crafted to embody warmth, empathy, and professionalism. The Edison Agency worked with NSA to unearth their narrative and values, paving the way for a visual language that would rise above traditional and clichéd perceptions of support organizations.
The revamped brand identity unified NSA's vision around themes of compassion and modernity - enhancing engagement with both beneficiaries and prospective donors, and laying a solid foundation for future collaborations, setting NSA on a trajectory of continued growth and impact.
Project Commissioner
Project Creator
Team
Amber Bonney - Head of Strategy
Andrew Ashton - Creative Director
Caitlin Preyser - Lead Designer + Illustrator
Miles Castan - Account Manager
Matt O'Connor - Senior Creative Artworker
Bernadette Blair - Chairman, Next Steps Australia
Project Brief
In 2016, Next Steps Australia (NSA) emerged from a vision sparked by Chairperson Bernadette Blair, who recognized a critical need to provide essential Manchester items to women and children escaping domestic violence. With the recent introduction of 'Future Steps' boxes, designed to support families in establishing new homes after fleeing violence.
As part of Edison’s DESIGN for a GOOD program to provide pro-bono work for social change, Edison partnered with NSA to revamp their brand identity and anchor their mission to help propel future endeavors.
Developing a design strategy and brand identity system that could extend from brandmark to physical touchpoints like 'Future Steps' boxes, The Edison agency pursued a holistic approach that would amplify the voice of the NSA and enable new funding opportunities.
Project Innovation/Need
Embarking on a thorough research phase, The Edison Agency collaborated with the NSA to redefine its narrative and values. Edison’s project and design team worked with the NSA board and volunteers to immerse and understand the organization, charity partners, supply chain process, and end users.
It became evident that the new brand identity must embody warmth and approachability, rising above the often bureaucratic facade associated with traditional support organizations for domestic violence.
Designed using symbolism that reinforced the security of the home with a calm, soft color palette, this provided a strong connection to the existing former brand. Handcrafted patterns and textures were woven throughout as a symbol of the starter packs fabric, working with modern illustrations of people and textures to bring warmth and empathy.
Culminating in a contemporary new brand asset library, style-guide, internal templates, and collateral suite, the evolved assets are set for implementation across all communication platforms in 2024.
Design Challenge
Overcoming traditional perceptions of support organizations and uniting NSA's vision, the design challenge was multi-faceted:
• Create a design system that felt approachable and warm yet, functional and professional
• Develop a cohesive visual language that communicates NSA's mission across all touchpoints
• Ensure the visual language resonates with people of diverse cultural backgrounds
• Lay a solid foundation for future collaborations and collateral rollout
• Align the brand with NSA's core values and future vision
• Provide comprehensive brand consultation and implementation support during the launch phase
Effectiveness
Serving the needs of Next Steps Australia to present their value as a viable community partner of choice, the new visual language and collateral quickly resulted in securing an additional $300k in funding across three years which would aid in financing NSA’s Future Steps Project.
Redeveloping various touch points across the new brand identity ensures that a unified vision is now an integral part of everything that NSA interacts with. Senior stakeholders believe that these new changes will have a greater appeal and positive impact on prospective donors interacting with the organization in understanding their value and community impact – creating much-needed change and support for those fleeing domestic violence.
With newly trademarked brand assets, identity tools, and templates, the NSA team is looking forward to helping more Australian women and children get back on their feet with integrity and hope.
Graphic Design - Identity and Branding - Community
This award celebrates creative and innovative design in the traditional or digital visual representation of ideas and messages. Consideration given to clarity of communication and the matching information style to audience.
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