Make Shift

A consistent brand architecture

We had already supported Make Shift to launch a new organisational purpose and developed its brand idea ‘Champion Individuality’ which would be used as a common thread to support the launch of all future sites. Our challenge was therefore to apply this brand architecture and purpose whilst devising a distinct and exciting brand identity for Hackney Bridge.

A bridge between old and new

Consultation with locals identified a strong emotional attachment to the old Clarnico Sweet factory. We therefore worked to create a brand identity that paid homage to the past, whilst delivering a modern and ownable brand identity for Hackney Bridge.

To do this, we took inspiration from the original letterforms used by the Clarnico company to design a unique new wordmark for Hackney Bridge. In our colour selection, we took inspiration from famous Clarnico exports of the past before adapting them into a modern design format for cut-through on screen and offline.

A symbol for individuality

We wanted to create an ownable brand asset that could be used as a short-cut for the Hackney Bridge brand. We conceived an approach that would allow the ‘H’ from Hackney to mimic the name by ‘bridging’ two vertical stems with a horizontal bar, and used the Hackney Bridge architectural design as inspiration to build an angled roof and corrugated texture into the mark.

In doing so, we were able to create a memorable symbol that would help generate recall of the site, as well as a brand device that could hold different content and help champion members’ individuality.

A unified and memorable graphic language

Following the creation of our symbol we created a series of ‘roof’ graphic devices that not only reflected the structures on site, but also what was going on inside those structures. This helped create a memorable graphic language and association to the site, as well as providing the opportunity for members and event partners to express themselves creatively.

This project showcased the success of our new brand architecture, and validated its ability to ensure Make Shift and its sub-brands could live their brand purpose.