Ark
The Baring Foundation – Full brand refresh, new website and ongoing digital marketing support
2018 – ongoing
The Baring Foundation is an independent foundation which protects human rights, promotes inclusion and believes in the role of a strong and independent civil society.
We were tasked by The Baring Foundation to run a light-touch brand process, develop a new visual identity, and roll it out across their channels. We also developed their new website and support them with their Google Ads grant and analytics reporting.
A full brand refresh
The foundation’s roots go right back to 1969, but it wasn’t until our involvement in 2017 that they had first been able to pursue a singular coherent identity across their three key programmes. With a small, experienced team and a very clearly defined mission, our main workshopping priorities were to tease out a deeper understanding of the values underpinning the Foundation’s work and to arrive at an agreed notion of their brand personality.
It was clear that ideas of heritage and trustworthiness were key moods to convey and that our design needed to be highly pragmatic and easily sustainable by the in-house team. After our process of exploration and refinement we arrived at a sturdy logotype and type-pairing that reflected the breadth of the Foundation’s work, along with a sober palette and refined approach to layout that allowed project works to shine.
Intuitive website architecture
When it came to the website, Baring wanted to provide exactly the right information, without fuss, to their core audience of campaigners, practitioners, policy-makers and other funders. We conducted further research with these groups, which underpinned decisions around website structure, layout and common user journeys.
The website is simple and intuitive. Three core areas of focus feature in a prominent navigation, which is supported by a mega menu which provides a context and signposts users into dynamic landing pages. Content on these pages is drawn from an extensive database of different content types, including grant information, case studies and projects. The overall result is consistent with the Foundation’s brand personality – transparent, knowledgeable and focused on the impact of their funding.
Tools for disseminating information about the Foundation’s work
The Foundation’s role as a thought leader is supported by a blog, which offers a space for staff members, grantees and others to offer an opinion and stimulate debate. The latest organisational information is available through a news section and dedicated search functionality and filtering options allow users to easily reach the right information from the database of grants and projects.
As part of the project, we also migrated a large volume of around 500 items of existing content from their previous site, avoiding a lengthy manual upload process.
We already knew from the rebrand that we’d be in safe hands with Bureau, and the website couldn’t have gone smoother. Getting key stakeholders involved in consultation was essential, as it meant we could be totally confident about going ahead with Bureau’s recommendations.