Charities turn to design to build up their brands

British charity brands are set to benefit from a number of design consultancy projects over the coming weeks.

Centrepoint, the British homelessness charity, is working with design consultancy Nameless on a series of initiatives, while Children’s International Summer Villages has appointed Lloyd Northover to carry out its first rebrand.

The CISV, a youth exchange charity that specialises in running cross-cultural, educational group activities, intends to create a more cohesive visual identity that will project a modern and accurate image of the charity.

Lloyd Northover has worked up a series of potential designs for the charity and is considering the option of including a descriptor or strapline in the identity. The overall visual identity design is likely to be more evolutionary than revolutionary, says Jim Bodoh, director at Lloyd Northover.

CISV, founded in the wake of World War II, now operates in more than 60 countries throughout the world, and involves over 7000 participants annually in its international programmes.

‘We suffer from an extremely disparate and fragmented brand image and it has simply become unmanageable internally. We need a fresh start,’ says Antti Kangaslahti, marketing and project manager at CISV.

Nameless is designing Centrepoint’s latest annual review and a series of service guides for the charity that specifically target young people staying at its hostels.

The consultancy has been working with Centrepoint for about a year to help rationalise the organisation’s identity, which was originally created by Corporate Edge. Nameless has updated the charity’s brand guidelines in a bid to bring more structure and coherence to the way the organisation communicates, as well as designing a raft of new stationery. Centrepoint also commissioned Nameless to design its new head offices, located in London’s Aldgate.

The charity is planning to host a series of internal brand engagement workshops next year, with the aim of ensuring its staff understand and connect with the evolving brand.