A refreshed brand identity and voice, shaped by young people and built to better represent who the charity is today.
THE CHALLENGE
Break has a long track record of supporting children and young people in, around, and leaving care. But as the charity worked to grow its reach and income, the brand started to lag behind. The visual identity felt limited, and the tone of voice wasn’t defined, making it hard to communicate consistently or connect with new supporters.
Internally, teams needed more clarity and a shared language they could use with confidence. Externally, the charity needed a clearer story about what Break does, why it matters, and who it’s for and the tools to tell that story well across every audience, channel and touchpoint.
OUR APPROACH
We started by running workshops and interviews with staff, supporters and young people to understand how Break is perceived and where the gaps lay. Using that insight, we expanded on the existing brand framework, giving them new organisational values, a refined strapline, and a clearer sense of tone and personality.
To shape the values, we used a card-sorting exercise during workshops, then tested them through a quantitative survey distributed across the organisation. This helped us understand which values resonated most across different teams and roles, and gave the wider staff group a chance to help shape the outcome. We also created a set of audience personas, each based on real needs, motivations and barriers. These became a foundation for message development, ensuring what Break says and how it says it is shaped by the people it wants to reach.
Throughout the project, we brought staff and young people into the process. A co-creation workshop invited young people and care leavers to contribute creatively to the visual side of the brand. Their ideas helped inform two updated design directions both rooted in Break’s existing identity but evolved to better reflect its ambition and energy.
THE SOLUTION
The new brand gives Break a clearer, more confident identity, one that reflects the warmth behind the work. It holds onto what’s familiar but evolves it with more flexibility and feeling. The refreshed colour palette softens the overall tone and improves accessibility, while new organic shapes sit alongside the existing logo, adding texture and echoing the care and creativity at the heart of Break’s approach. Updated typefaces were also chosen to improve readability without losing the character people had come to associate with the old style.
The tone of voice has been defined and documented for the first time. It’s designed with practicality at the centre, giving people across the organisation the tools to write with clarity and consistency, whatever the format or audience. And an updated strapline, ‘caring differently’ brings sharper external focus too, helping people quickly understand what Break does and highlighting how they differentiate themselves from other care providers.
“We are so pleased and proud of this work. You guys were brilliant throughout the whole process and really helped us to articulate and express our values in a way we couldn’t have done on our own.”
Neil Park, Head of Marketing and Communications
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE…
Built on the combined experience of our founders, Creativity Unbound brings over 30 years of knowledge from across different industries to support VCSE’s of all sizes.
We’d love to bring our experience, creativity and passion to help realise the true potential of your audiences.
We’d love to hear from you.
Call us on 01603 339138 or email hello@creativityunbound.co.uk