Case study: WASH Funders Group
An identity built on working together
The WASH Funders Group is an informal collaboration of foundations working in water, sanitation and hygiene. In eight weeks it went from having no visual identity at all to a value proposition and a brand signed off by organisations in different countries and time zones.
Photo: Water for People
Client
WASH Funders Group
Sector
Philanthropy
Services
Sector and stakeholder research, value proposition, visual identity, brand style sheet, newsletter template
Duration
8 weeks
SDGs supported
The challenge
Foundations working as one group, with no identity of their own
The WASH Funders Group is an informal collaboration of 25 foundations working in water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH). Members share what they're funding, learn from each other and look for places where working together makes their grants go further. The group isn't public facing, but it still needed a home for the resources and materials it creates, and a way to be transparent about its work. When it came to us it had no visual identity at all, and before one could be designed it needed a value proposition.
Every decision also had to be signed off by the project coordinator and four member organisations, each in a different country and working to a different time zone, so simply getting everyone into the same conversation took planning.
"Working together, we dived deeply into the purpose and vision to create an identity that aligned perfectly with our values, principles and what we want to achieve."
Tracey Keatman, Coordinator, WASH Funders Group
What we uncovered
The research pointed to collaboration
Every foundation comes to the group wanting to make an impact, and each wants somewhere to exchange ideas and learn from the others. What came through most strongly in the workshops, interviews and survey, though, was collaboration: organisations working together on problems in the sector that none of them could take on alone.
That became the value proposition, Collaboration for more impact, and everything in the identity was built from it.
Research into the sector and the group
Before anything was designed, we researched the WASH sector and the group itself. The questions each organisation answered were written specifically to draw out what mattered to them, and the concepts that came through were explored in a series of mind maps.
Working across time zones
Each organisation answered the questions in its own time, which got around the time zones. When the design options were ready, we found a time that worked for everyone, presented them live on one call and refined the work from their feedback.
The value proposition
The research was drawn together into Collaboration for more impact, which became the brief for every design decision that followed.
A brand style sheet
The logo and its versions, the palette, typography, patterns and the collaboration aims icons, gathered into one style sheet so anyone authorised to work on the brand can use it consistently.
A newsletter template
A quarterly newsletter designed on the new identity, so every issue carries the brand consistently.
How we worked together
Research first, then the identity
Visual identity
Hands coming together, at the centre of the name
The mark inside the "o" of group is drawn from hands brought together in a circle to convey home the idea of collaboration, and it carries straight through into the patterns and the icons for the group's three collaboration aims: regular information exchange, peer-to-peer learning and coordinated actions.
Deep Blue Sea
Collaborative Red
Curiosity Ochre
Gradient
Midnight Black
Neutral White
The brand in action
Sharing impact with members and friends of the group
The quarterly newsletter is where the identity goes out into the world, carrying funding news, publications and articles from across the membership to everyone connected to the group.
"We approached Pure Flow State to create a visual identity for the WASH Funders Group. We went from no visual representation at all to having a strong, unique identity and value proposition that we're proud of. If you want clarity and intention for your brand, Pure Flow State can get you there!"
Tracey Keatman, Coordinator, WASH Funders Group
