Adam was interviewed by Covington Doan for the podcast ‘People Like Us’, which follows the stories of altMBA alumni.
Listen to hear him talk about why it’s so important to have a sense of purpose, how we can tackle sexual abuse of boys, and his new personal project ‘Exploring Enough’.
For many of us, the altMBA experience is incredible. But it’s also intense, and it goes by in a flash.
I found that after it ended, I needed reminders to keep myself on top of what I’d learned.
That’s when I came up with the idea to create some free downloadable files that you can print and use as visuals on your office wall.
I’ve created a series of 10 designs, and most of them are available in either colour or black and white versions so you can pick and choose your favourites.
I’ve put them all together in a single ZIP file of PDF files, which you can download by clicking below.
Buy merch
By popular demand these are now also available as a range of printed merchandise from Redbubble. Visit my portfolio page and choose a design to get started!
Role: Graphic designer (freelance)
Location: Any location considered (remote working)
Pay rate: Negotiable, based on day rate
At HopeWorks, we work as an agile team of independent professionals around the world that work together as required to get the best results for our clients. This flexible approach allows us to trial new ways of working, and we benefit from the diversity of thought that our team brings.
With this in mind we are looking to find a freelancer or freelancers to work with us on a small but exciting project for Alzheimer’s Society and NHS England, to design the logo for a new national dementia group. We are looking primarily for designers who are living with dementia or are caring for someone living with dementia.
If we find a suitable designer, we would like to add them to our database of freelancers for potential future work in the future that also relates to this sector.
We are all a product of our experiences. Research can help us to empathise with others, but lived experience can be hard to match.
In seeking people with lived experience of dementia or dementia care, we are aiming to design with the people we are looking to serve, not just for them.
This does not mean that we will be compromising on design experience. We are not looking for just anyone. We are looking for experienced designers. We are acknowledging that people living with dementia, and carers, have assets, gifts and talents that go far beyond the box they are often put in. With that in mind, we are looking for people who are able to design, but can use their lived experience to further inform their work.
We are looking for people who:
The location is unimportant as this work will be done remotely.
We will be flexible in your approach to working with us, in order to accommodate your requirements.
To apply, please complete the following form, or contact us for more information.
Should we design with people, or for them, or to them?
As designers, are we better-placed than people to understand their needs; or are they?
Where can a designer claim to be an expert, and where do they need to be open to new influences that could be far different from their own?
When is inclusion tokenistic, and when is it valuable?
These are questions that have been on my mind recently, as I think about diversity in the design and communications industry.
Today I’d like to share a short blog post, in the spirit of working openly – so please forgive me for my ideas not being fully-formed. I’m still learning and exploring, and I’d like to invite you to explore with me, too.
Don’t just listen. Collaborate
I’ve been thinking a lot about my aunt, Clari. She has various identities. To some, she’s the mother of a disabled man. To others, she’s Oscar’s mum. To some, she’s Iain’s wife.
But to others, she’s a talented illustrator and artist; and a wonderful technician at an art school. And if you’re only seeing her as a mum, you’re missing out big time.
As a designer or communications professional, how can you best understand what engages, informs and inspires people?
These questions aren’t new; and yet, still, the answer is often focus groups, or something similar. Put people in a room, ask them questions, send them surveys, maybe do a few interviews. Is it valuable? Perhaps. But is it making the most of their assets? Absolutely not. It is putting people in a box – the box of the end-user – and actively removing them from the possibility they have to co-create with you.
There is something very wrong here.
There are illustrators with autism. There are designers with dementia. There are comms professionals who are also refugees. There are social media pros with dyslexia.
It’s time we change the conversation around what ‘inclusion’ means, so that it means truly building on the value that people from different backgrounds can bring to the table.
Diverse team, diverse thought
What would it look like for HopeWorks to approach hiring with the intentionality of building on people’s lived experience? How could we do so in a way that recognises both the unique talents of the team members we already have, and combines them with the talents and lived experience of others?
I’m not sure yet. I’m still exploring. I have some ideas, but I’d be keen to hear yours.
Adam is the Creative Director of HopeWorks. Tweet him @hopeworks_adam or email us.
HopeWorks are delighted to announce a new client partnership with Goodbox, an innovative start-up driving the future of fundraising.
Goodbox are dedicated to helping charities and the non-profit sector drive efficiencies in fundraising by harnessing the latest technologies. Their core products are a range of electronic donation points design for the 21st century, that respond to the needs of an increasingly cashless society by allowing people to donate with a quick tap of their card.
HopeWorks will be working with Goodbox initially to design engaging content for their charity partners to use on their digital devices. As this content will be displayed at the crucial point of donation decision-making, it needs to be able to capture people’s attention quickly and effectively.
We’re really excited about the potential that Goodbox has to transform the fundraising landscape, and we’re looking forward to being part of their journey.
To learn more about Goodbox, or to register your interest in their products for your charity, visit www.goodbox.com.
Post by Anne-Marie Vettorel, Social Media Strategist at HopeWorks
Here’s some real talk: Social media isn’t a gimmick, luxury or frill — it’s an essential part of any non-profit’s advocacy and outreach strategy.
A website is an essential tool for any charity looking to grow; but developing a new website for a non-profit / charity can be a minefield, especially for leaders who haven’t been through a website build before. To make sure your website is effective, and to avoid throwing money down the drain unnecessarily, check out these 5 top tips.
Recently, a long-term client I’ve been working with on a rebrand told me that one of the more radical brand concepts I put forward was ‘really exciting’ and where she and her colleagues ‘want to be’ — but then said she was worried about pursuing it because ‘the organisation isn’t there yet.’
This got me thinking. Are organisations looking for brands that express where they are now, or where they want to end up? Or, if we reframe the question, how can building an aspirational brand help an organisation get to where it wants to be?
Become comfortable with aspiration
I understand my client’s concern. It’s something resembling impostor syndrome: she was worried about overselling herself. What if people were to discover that her organisation isn’t actually everything she says it is, just yet?
At HopeWorks, though, we believe that a brand is an integral part of an organisation’s strategic change.
To apply our approach, you would start by launching your new brand internally. Engage colleagues in the refined vision, mission and values. Then develop ways to tell stories about how you are achieving the mission already, and share strategies for how you’re going to continue, together.
Helen Sanderson, the founder of our client Wellbeing Teams, says:
“Our brand is instrumental in helping us to achieve our vision. It communicates that we are different, vibrant and dynamic, and this helps us to attract the people we need to bring that vision to life. As these people join us, the way we communicate both externally and internally is aligned to our brand. This helps people to understand what we’re all about and how to get involved. In other words, our brand is led by our vision but at the same time it’s an important element in defining it and making it a reality.”
Holding back with a brand can limit an organisation to its current self-image. Or, as David Aaker puts it:
“Too often, a brand executive feels constrained and uncomfortable going beyond what the brand currently has permission to do. Yet most brands need to improve on some dimensions to compete and add new dimensions in order to create new growth platforms. A brand that has plans to extend to a new category, for example, will probably need to go beyond the current image.”
In short, if an organisation’s business strategy is bold, a rebrand should reflect this. We can only achieve change through change.
A collaborative process
Every brand needs to align with a vision, but the vision for the organisation doesn’t need to have been achieved yet — or even fully defined. That vision can be defined through the branding process, through collaboration with the brand agency.
It should consider things such as:
This should be a two-way conversation in which the client is engaged in the process of defining or refining their unique vision for the organisation. The agency’s role is to coach the client, helping them crystallise their thinking by asking the right questions and sharing relevant insight.
A rebrand is a beginning – not an end
Through this process, you are setting a purpose, values, messages and objectives that will get you to where you want to be. If you were already there, your rebrand would be a purely cosmetic exercise. For a rebrand to add value, it should be a catalyst that helps you achieve your organisational objectives.
As the strategy and vision move forward, the brand should evolve alongside them — there’s no reason to see a new brand identity as an endpoint. A rebrand is really the start of a brand’s story, not the end.
Helen of Wellbeing Teams says:
“At Wellbeing Teams, we’re developing a radical new model for social care. Our business model is evolving, so our brand and messaging is evolving too. Working iteratively with HopeWorks means that we can constantly test and refine how we talk about ourselves, based on feedback and results. This helps us refine our vision, which in turn helps to further refine our brand.”
It’s important to note that this approach is cost-effective (something that’s especially important for non-profits and social enterprises). When budgets are tight, an iterative approach to branding can reduce the initial outlay and ensure that flexibility is built in, making the brand as effective as possible based on data-driven results. This flexibility might be reflected in, for example, a dynamic, constantly-changing website or content strategy. Indeed, a key benefit of digital media is that it should be easy to update and refine.
Helen sums it up nicely:
“Don’t see a brand as simply representing your organisation as it is now. See it as a vehicle for helping your organisation to get where it wants to go.”
Ready to make change happen? Get in touch to talk to us about how a rebrand could help your organisation to achieve its vision.
Today we have a recruitment workshop for care sector team members (known as Wellbeing Workers) for the care at home provider Wellbeing Teams in Greater Manchester. We had over 100 applicants for the role in just a few days – and this is a sector which is traditionally very hard to recruit to.
We used a mix of channels including Facebook ads and Indeed, and a number of our existing team members also referred friends (a reflection of our high employee promoter score).
Facebook ads performed highly on efficacy and value; with almost two-thirds of our applications coming from our targeted campaigns, which seek to recruit people based on their core values.
For just £230 we received 1,332 link clicks which converted to booked calls at a rate of just under 1 in 20. This meant that we spent just £3.64 for each applicant to book a call with us.
Given that this is advert did not target people who were actively job-seeking, but instead were attracted by an attention-grabbing ad designed to resonate with their values, this represents a high conversion rate and low advertising spend compared to traditional models such as newspaper ads or printed posters.
Following our recruitment workshop we’ll be analysing which channels our successful applicants joined us through – and I’ll keep you posted!