Hope – A Play Therapy Business Brief: Develop a print-­‐ready corporate identity and sample advert for a Play Therapy business, to include pantone references, print guidelines and stationery stock recommendations. Introduction: Play Therapy is a relatively new field in child psychology. It seeks to identify, address and ultimately resolve children’s issues, through the medium of play. As such, it is as much art as it is science and the sensitive nature of the therapy lends itself to a soft and gentle tone for the brand. Company Name: The name Hope is derived from the therapist’s name. Also, the inherent meaning of the word hope is positive and affirming. Domain names were checked and are available for hopeplaytherapy.co.uk Company Identity: The identity of hope needs to encapsulate feelings of optimism, caring and safety. As such, it is felt that warm, earthy tones are well suited to this. Had the company dealt directly with children as customers, this may have changed to something a little more sunny and bright. As it stands, the main source of business is carers, doctors, social workers and other health professionals. A professional tone was therefore more apt. •
A warm, brown colour has been selected to be the primary colour for hope, with all stationery having this colour on the reverse side -­‐Early identification by the market is key. The colour requires fine-­‐tuning and is open to suggestions. •
The font for ‘hope’ has to be a soft, friendly lowercase font, readily available. Garamond is the example used in these early treatments. Again, this is open to experimentation. •
A clean, unfussy line was introduced to add depth to the stationery. Other than that, layout was kept modern and professional. •
Premium stock for stationery is desired to add to the image of professionalism. A basic mock-­‐up is provided overleaf: Advertising: Development of an advertising strategy identified local press, trade publications and in-­‐
house government / NHS publications as the main source of business referrals, along with foster carer newsletters and social worker union pamphlets. A final version is now required. With the target audience identified, the tone and content of advertisements can now be set. The tone is to be warm and friendly, though professional. Since the field is relatively well understood by target audience, no great detail of the services provided is needed. Budget constraints limits options to a simple treatment. The idea of children’s blocks, spelling out hope was well received by the client – it would be simple and cheap to achieve, but strikes all the right notes. Images of children in a setting of darkness or pain would not be well received. Happy and carefree imagery was equally inappropriate, so a neutral image from childhood was seen to be entirely appropriate. Other suggestions are welcome. The strap line of ‘every child deserves hope’ was developed to encapsulate feelings of positivity and inclusiveness. The inclusion of an ellipsis afterwards was thought to express notions of open-­‐endedness, encouraging healthcare professionals to make that all-­‐important first call…the beginning of a journey. Hope is a very campaignable idea. Other iterations include ‘Give a Child Hope’, ‘Hope is good’, ‘We are Hope’, or ‘Never Lose Hope’. Project Deliverables •
Developed corporate identity, to include: •
Recommendation of a ‘house font’ •
Colour palette recommendations •
Print-­‐ready, customisable stationery templates (Letterhead, Business Card and Compliment Slip layouts) •
An advert, preferably using original imagery