This post is all about how our remote branding studio collaborated with a social impact consultancy business FairForce to build the kind of messaging, design and ethics that we want to see challenging the status quo across industries.
We first spoke to Margherita Sgorbissa from FairForce in our 30 minute call to see how we might work together. We’d been inspired by her posts on Instagram and loved the work she did via her business to help brands grow organically, reach their change-making potential and prioritise a human approach to marketing/ sales. We were delighted when she got in touch to enquire about our web design, branding and copywriting services!
Aligning on purpose
It was clear from the start that we all aligned on the purpose of copywriting. We agreed we saw it as being a way to call people in who connect with your mission rather than as a sneaky way to manipulate and trick people into buying by the powers of persuasion. We wanted the storytelling to speak for itself free from marketing jargon and gimmicks.
After talking all things business impact, feminism and anti-capitalist marketing Marg decided to opt for a full project with us of:
- Creating brand voice & visual branding identity (including new logo, fonts and colour palette)
- Web design
- Strategic copywriting for web
The project began with a kick-off call which we all had a lot of fun in, getting to know Marg, FairForce and what values mattered most to the brand. We then did market and industry research and started to come up with a user-journey for the site.
The Visual Branding Process
Marg was decisive on the two main colours of the FairForce palette. Fuchsia is a colour that she chose to reclaim the “girly” vibe, and to remind that “girly” is not equal to weak or unprofessional, but a whole statement: “we – as women and communities from traditionally marginalized groups – are allowed to take space and be loud.”
Electric blue is a colour that has represented Marg for a long time. Commonly used in business, deep blue has a serious undertone, but the electric touch adds a sense of boldness and empowerment which Marg brings to FairForce.
To embolden the palette even further, we added an orange, on the opposite side of the colour spectrum to blue, and a complimentary tone to fuschia.
The shapes we created for the brand are inspired by some of the most important words used to describe FairForce: organic growth, collective care, grounded, make connections, human approach.
The shapes were made from hand-cut collages, which were then digitally abstracted and united in style to create a diverse set of brand assets that Marg can use widely. Our brand guidelines include direction and colour guides so that the shapes are used cohesively and in line with the brand aesthetic.
By creating brand voice and visual guidelines we laid strong foundations for the full web design and copywriting to keep the mission and vision clear, consistent and impactful throughout.
Web
At Ardea, we see a website as a space in the online sphere that not only feels like home for your business but also acts as a conversation starter with your community. That’s exactly what Marg wanted for FairForce, a place to build connections and start conversations.
We consulted with Marg on her business goals and vision for the site over several calls. We worked together on copy, UX and implementation to create a user journey that invites discovery yet has a clear end goal – to book a call with Marg. It was important for her that the FairForce past projects acted as a key form of communication to explain the impact and process of her work, so they act as an extension of her service descriptions.
To learn more about the site, check it out for yourself.
The process of working together was collaborative, we’d submit all work for feedback and sign-off from Marg before completing the next step.
Finally, FairForce ended up with a new visual identity, brand guidelines, and a fresh new website with bespoke design and messaging!
What Marg had to say:
“Olivia and Jasmine were highly professional, competent and incredibly empathic. Working with them felt natural from day 1 and it only got better throughout our project. Olivia was able to capture the essence of my brand and turn it into the most aligned visual outcome. She did a mind-blowing job of the website architecture and the graphic and UX process, bringing together all the brand elements I wished to see materialise on FF’s website! Jas’ copywriting and editing skills were phenomenal. She drafted pieces of content for the website that felt exactly how I want them to be: approachable, inclusive, culturally competent and authentic. She also facilitated the process for me to add my own thoughts to it and follow up with further tweaks and fine-tuning.”
Find out more
To learn more about our services you can check out our web design packages and branding packages or contact us directly to see how we might work together.
We also wrote a full blog post introducing FairForce and their inspiring mission that you can read here.
