The Strand Group – New brand and website to showcase teaching, research and events

2017 – ongoing

WebsitesBrand

The Strand Group at King’s College London examines the contemporary history of the institutions of the British Government through teaching, research and events.

Having worked with The Strand Group on microsites about Margaret Thatcher and the history of cabinet secretaries, they commissioned us to create a visual identity and website to support student recruitment and showcase their events and research activities.

Early discovery and visual identity

We explored considerations around the visual identity, particularly the relationship with its parent institution, King’s College London. The visual identity and its application on the website is professional, authoritative and clear particularly in terms of choice of colour and typography.

Supporting the recruitment of students

The initial consultation involved looking in detail at The Strand Group’s activities and conducting extended discussions with members of the team about its direction.

A key objective was to support recruitment into The Strand Group’s MA in Government Studies. We designed layouts to combine an overview for casual users, with more detail on the experienced staff and high-profile politicians that provide teaching. We designed a navigational approach that clearly illustrates the course structure that combines core and optional modules and a research project.

Publicising events with high-profile speakers

The Strand Group’s events bring together figures from the worlds of government (including ex-Prime Ministers, Chancellors of the Exchequer and Cabinet Ministers), business, journalism and academia. A logical and layout distinction was made between upcoming and past events, with upcoming events providing practical information for participants and the past events offering a space for video content and press coverage.