Community engagement company
Brand identity design, brand consultancy and styling, corporate and promotional print, event signage, banner designs, stationery design, bags and post-it notes
Communities Matter are a community engagement company based in Sussex. Their mission is to engage with communities to help promote and encourage sustainable change and development.
I initially worked with the business to create information boards and print for an event that they were hosting. This led on to design more flyers, posters and banners for events that they were running in partnership with local councils. As the business grew, a fresh brand image was required. I was commissioned to design a new logo for Communities Matter and to create a brand look and feel for the 'Energy Café'. The Energy Café is a mobile café that 'pops up' in village halls and community centres and brings with it a range of experts and suppliers in the field of sustainable energy supply and use. The café is open to all the local residents and gives them the opportunity to learn more about energy savings that they can make in their home and how to access grants where available. They share information, listen to homeowners needs and provide a good cuppa and a delicious slice of cake in a relaxed atmosphere!
I researched ideas about 'community' and focussed on the idea that a good community is a network of individuals in a location that can link to others and grow as a result. The logo reflects this idea in a contemporary and fresh identity.
The Energy Café logo needed to look accessible and friendly to everyone. The flowers in the font give a relaxed feel and are picked out as a brand styling element. It uses the same brand colour palette as Communities Matter and brings a feel of a garden party/community event. I added bunting, flowers and the tree from the CM logo as brand elements on the publicity material.
The tree became a useful theme for the Energy Café. They made a wooden tree to use at their events as a collection point for questions and information. As the café became more successful CM realised that it would be great to be able to have a character that the public could relate to as a spokesperson for facts around sustainable energy production and supply. I developed 'Leafy' and his friends. They have appeared on post-it notes and have grown to have their own Twitter account (@askleafy).