Brand identity and website for a global communications agency.
As Breakthrough Media’s design director I was responsible for the agency’s transformation into Zinc Network, a new global agency with a remit to help communities, brands and governments drive positive social change.
With a design team led by Isaac Nana, Matt Scott and Sophie Webb, Zinc Network’s sober brand identity was created to frame the agency’s passionate commitment to people-powered change.
Cutting through the weeds
The biggest challenge the design team faced was finding a creative route that satisfied Zinc Network’s many stakeholders. Prior to our involvement another design team had been working on the project, leaving behind several abandoned routes that all demonstrated a potential way forward. By creating a braintrust with Breakthrough Media’s CEO we were able to rapidly refine these ideas into a core brand philosophy and a clear creative brief.
Serious fun
It was important that Zinc Network’s brand collateral radiated confidence and authority. However, the design team still found ways to elevate the agency’s printed material by embossing extra-thick business cards and designing watermarks into the agency’s stationary.
Shouting quietly
The website was a challenge because it was difficult for Zinc Network to be specific about the work they were involved in. Our solution was to assign every project to a handful of summary pages. These pages collated links to internal and external content that talked around the projects that made Zinc Network unique.
A window on the world
A colourful image library was sourced to counter Zinc Network’s authoritative aesthetic. To communicate the agency’s ability to reframe sociopolitical issues, the distinctive angles of Zinc Network’s logo were employed across the brand identity as a window on the world.
Lightweight design for heavyweight content
We also designed several report templates to allow Zinc Network to publish their research. Given these reports were intended for a global audience, our guiding principle was to provide lightweight design for heavyweight content.
