It is widely understood that, in the UK, people are living longer. But whilst an extended life expectancy is clearly something to relish, an ageing population does bring economic, societal and public services challenges too.
The Office for National Statistics predicted that by 2020, over 50s will make up nearly half of the adult population, which will have an overwhelming impact on the country’s finances, infrastructure and communities. Nobody is precluded from the implications of this ageing society, whether at a government or individual level.
Acknowledging the need for change, Design Council, with funding of £3.65m from the Big Lottery Fund (now branded the Community Fund), the largest funder of community activity in the UK, launched Transform Ageing.
Transform Ageing takes a community and design-led approach to improve people’s experience of ageing. It brings together people in later life, social entrepreneurs, and health & social care leaders to define the challenges and to support the development and delivery of new approaches to ageing in Cornwall, Devon and Somerset.
We used user-centred methods and activities to ask the participants to:
Reframing the challenges of ageing is a key component of the programme. This led directly to the creation of a graphic device which could help to frame key messages and challenges.
The ‘frame’ device allows the brand to ask questions and make bold statements. By using the word ‘transform’ as a pivot, messages can flex between bigger, more strategic goals and smaller, tactical levels as well as introducing regional variations.
Special attention was given to partner logo lock-ups and co-branding with the Community Fund brand. Guidelines also included examples of brand application for visual and written identity.
The vibrant primary and secondary colour palettes allow communications to stand out in a crowded social media landscape whilst retaining brand consistency.
The brand was applied to tools used within the pilot programme workshops. The frame device helps people to record ideas and thoughts.
