Groups ring changes in recycling with Mayor

Two design groups will help London Mayor Ken Livingstone shift attitudes towards domestic recycling this autumn, working from a brief developed by Circus.

Radius has created the identity and brand guidelines and Redhouse Lane is designing the website for the £1.5m campaign Recycle for London, which launches on 2 September.

The initiative’s central theme – ‘you can recycle more than you think’, devised by Circus – is intended to increase the take-up of recycling services by Londoners at a local level.

A ‘broad approach’, which in this case incorporates a telephone helpline and radio and billboard advertising, is necessary when ‘changing behaviour’, says Circus partner Katherine Atkin, but the emphasis is on providing people with ‘practical advice and support’.

Redhouse Lane’s website design will have an ‘inspirational’ element, but its main facet is a London-wide ‘facilities locator’.

‘This is the killer application,’ says Redhouse Lane head of user experience Paul Thurlow. ‘Entering a postcode allows users to instantly see what recycling services are available in their area.

‘A printer-friendly, postcode-specific fact sheet is generated with everything you need to know about recycling, ready to pin on the fridge door.’

Radius’s work, overseen by creative director Andrew Young, will run to an information pack for the boroughs as well as the logo that is likely to appear on dustbins, posters and vehicle liveries.