Opening up the branding process for Think Malawi

As a trustee of the charity formerly known as Ganet’s Adventure School Fund, I’ve been closely involved with the process of changing its name to Think Malawi. This change has been made in order to better reflect its expanded aim: to support education projects throughout Malawi in addition to Ganet’s Adventure School which it was originally set up to support.

Having lived with the previous logo for way too long, which was put together in extreme haste and then never updated, I am keen to ensure that the new branding really works as an asset that will support the charity’s efforts.

I am a big believer in incorporating audience research into my work, in order to help ensure its effectiveness. Being a fan of the way Johnson Banks and Mozilla opened up the brand development process for the Mozilla rebrand to the public, I am opening up the development process of Think Malawi’s branding in the same spirit.

Your feedback is very welcome throughout the process, you can send it to me via info@thinkmalawi.org

The new name, Think Malawi, has been now been approved by the trustees and the Charity Commission, so I have now been able to get to work on the visual research.

Modern African art and design research moodboard

Typography research moodboard

As a photographer of African hand painted signs, this was a welcome chance to revisit a favourite subject matter and see what’s happening with more contemporary Malawian and African type.

Crafts and packaging research moodboard

African crafts and toys made from found materials are an example of the ingenuity which the Think Malawi branding aims to evoke.

Patterns research moodboard

Colour research moodboard

The bright colours to be found in Malawian and African graphics could be an apt way to show the sense of playfulness which we want the brand to contain.

Big charity logo research

Malawian and other African logo research

Recent charity rebrands research

Accelerator and seed fund logo research

Educational organisation logo research

Investment and innovation bodies logo research

Microloans, campaigns and consumer fundraising logo research

Core mood board

This board is a visual summary of the space we are aiming for in our branding, in terms of colour, typography, tone and clarity of message.

Next steps: developing a brief

Having done the visual research and developed a basic strategy for the brand, the following brief was developed:

• Put simply, Think Malawi is an opportunity for people to directly improve the futures of children in one of the poorest countries in the world.

• The brand is a catalyst which enables Malawi’s next generation to shine.

• We believe there is an opportunity for Think Malawi to position itself as an enabler of innovation. This will help it to stand out from the many other small charities focussed on Africa, and to address some of the concerns around foreign aid.

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Strange hybrids emerge at Kikk creative festival

I’ve just returned from Belgium’s Kikk Festival thoroughly inspired and creatively refreshed, after two days of talks, art installations and a live sausage-making demonstration incorporated into a club night. Kikk is that sort of place.

With a loose theme this year of ‘Species and Beyond’, the festival mixes the arts, science and technology and explores the interesting spaces when these areas are combined. Being conceived by the creative minds at Dog Studio and Superbe, the emphasis is always on the creative.

My highlights of the conference included Nikita Diakur explaining his unique approach to animation in Developing an Ugly Idea, Margot Myers on designing an experience to get teenager interested in Charles Dickens, and Kate Dawkins explaining how her studio animated a whole stadium for the London Olympics. Kate’s talk especially captured our one year old’s attention because it started with a photo of a dog.

Installations, set up inside Namur’s many grand buildings, were truly weird and wonderful. I was pleased to finally see a generative digital work by Refik Anadol in person, and explored a UV jungle of sound-responsive plants in Miranda Moss’ Timid Wilderness. The audio installations were very impressive, I had my voice sampled to produce a full choir in Superbe’s installation SMing set in a grand church, and strangest of all I attached tubes to my nose and mouth to experience Jo Caimo’s interactive Human Organ Concerto.

It was one of those festivals where no matter what you do see there will always be more good things you didn’t see, especially in my case as I was chaperoning our one year old for part of the time while my other half prepared for her talk. Among others I was sorry to miss DBLG’s Grant Gilbert (known for their work on the Channel 4 rebrand), MoMA’s Paola Antonelli and also François-Joseph Lapointe talking about microbiome selfies.

On top of the conference and installations, there was a bustling marketplace of innovative projects to try out, two club nights plus (at extra cost) a range of in depth masterclasses and workshops.

It’s one of the few festivals where children are welcome, with a selection of child-friendly events, some well-behaved babies to be spotted in the conference and plenty of weird and wonderful art installations for children and adults to explore.

Most importantly, this is a very social festival, with lots of chances to chat to the friendly speakers, artists and attendees over a pre-lunch Belgian beer in the grand conference theatre bar (it seems much more sophisticated doing this in Belgium than back home in London) or around town at the installations.

Amazingly, and of particular interest to fellow freelancers out there, the festival is free to attend, thanks to a host of government and commercial sponsors and volunteers.

Thank you Kikk for giving me a creative ‘kikk’ up the backside, long may you continue to evolve in your strange directions!