NLOW
The Brief
New Life on the Old West (NLOW) is a 3 year project to deliver wildlife habitat enhancements in green spaces and surrounding countryside within areas close to the Old West River in the Cambridgeshire Fens. The programme has been developed by Cambridgeshire ACRE, working closely with over 50 local and regional organisations, specialists, and community groups. The project needed a logo and brand identity, followed by an inspiring website which would appeal to community stakeholders of all ages. Slade Design was chosen as the design delivery partner for the project.
The Approach
I spent time researching the Fens, both historically and geographically and collected a library of images including my own photographs from walks in the area. I learned about the flora and fauna which inhabit the area which the project aims to nurture and protect. I also took on board market research on the demographics of website users, which include both volunteers, local community, stakeholders in the project and expert scientists.
The three horizontal irregular rectangles in the logo represent the air, fields and soil of the Fen. Their organic shape and flat design are inspired by the ‘big sky’ views across Fenland fields. I created a series of illustrations for the website, mimicking linocut techniques digitally to create a handcrafted feel. (It would have been great to make these by hand but time & costs mean this isn’t always possible – however I did create one of the illustration by hand in linocut print as a personal project.) I also created bespoke icons and a full set of brand guidelines for the project.
The website was built by Slade Design, incorporating an interactive project map, login function for volunteers, a calendar of events and links to resources.
