Neighbourhood Watch to be rebranded in Design Council project

The Neighbourhood and Home Watch Network, which is the national association for Neighbourhood Watch groups, is being rebranded and will have its service design overhauled in a project run by the Design Council.

The Design Council has been working on the project for around 18 months as part of the Design Out Crime initiative, according to Design Out Crime programme manager Robert Bult. Live Work is developing the service design element of the project, while a separate, as-yet-unnamed consultancy is working on the branding.

The Design Council has recommended that the existing Neighbourhood Watch logo should not be changed, but that it should act as a ‘supporting symbol’ for a new ‘contemporary visual language’. Bult says, ‘There hasn’t ever been a consistent visual identity for Neighbourhood Watch.’

The Design Council says the strapline ‘Our Watch’ should be developed to sit at the heart of the way Neighbourhood Watch talks about itself and engages with audiences.

It also recommends the development of the ‘looking out for each other’ message, which ‘challenges the existing stereotype of curtain twitcher or nosey neighbour by suggesting “involved and supportive neighbour”’.

Bult says the project to rebrand Neighbourhood Watch came about as the Design Out Crime team was looking to develop projects in the housing area that weren’t specifically to do with built environment design.

The project is funded by the Home Office, which Bult says had set aside money for Neighbourhood Watch to develop ‘a capacity-building project’, and also through Design Out Crime.

The full results of the branding and service redesign project will be unveiled in the autumn.

Start the discussionStart the discussion
  • Post a comment

Latest articles