Asperger East Anglia logo

Asperger East Anglia is dedicated to providing advice and assistance to sufferers of Asperger syndrome across the region. When the time came to overhaul their existing brand, The Click were drafted in to create a striking new visual identity, printed literature, and poster campaign for the charity.

Asperger East Anglia is an important lifeline to many sufferers of Asperger syndrome located in the region. The support provided by the charity is gratefully received, as are their efforts to promote greater public knowledge of this often misunderstood condition. In order for Asperger East Anglia to sustain the personal and comprehensive assistance currently on offer across the county, it is important further resources are secured, be it through government grants, public fundraising or private charitable donations. It was decided a bold brand identity would greatly benefit Asperger East Anglia, both in distinguishing the charity among the host of other organisations vying for support, and making this important resource for sufferers of Asperger syndrome easier to recognise.

Asperger East Anglia stationery

The brand
When it came to designing a new brand for Asperger East Anglia, we wanted to create something that was wholly appropriate for both the charity and their clients. One symptom of Asperger syndrome is an acutely literal use and understanding of language. It can make navigating the subtle intricacies of day-to-day communication, something many take for granted, substantially more difficult. The new brand is designed to visually represent this straightforward and honest nature, found both at the heart of charity communication and the condition itself.

Asperger East Anglia leaflet

We created a versatile typographic logo by re-appropriating the letter ‘A’, initial of Asperger, and using it to lead a range of titles attached to each of the products. A bold monochrome colour scheme presents the brand ‘in black and white’, a further reference to the sincere communication that is so central to Asperger East Anglia.

The print
Each element of the full suite of communications features bold typography and adheres to the black and white colour scheme. The bold simplicity of the design coupled with the acutely literal title — A Note, A Letter, A Leaflet — constitutes an engaging visual identity that is in keeping with the cause of the charity and it’s clients. Monochrome also serves to reduce the revenue required for printing stationery, ensuring that a larger percentage of the money available to the charity goes to those who need it most.

Asperger East Anglia letterhead

Asperger East Anglia letterhead

Asperger East Anglia pens

The posters
We were keen to ensure those at the heart of the charity took centre stage in the poster advertising campaign to accompany the new brand. To do this, we took a series of portraits featuring clients of Asperger East Anglia and entitled each with ‘A Message’ accompanied by a short paragraph designed to promote a better understanding of Asperger syndrome.

Asperger East Anglia poster

Asperger East Anglia poster

Asperger East Anglia poster

Asperger East Anglia poster

Asperger East Anglia poster

Asperger East Anglia poster

The idea of branding a charity may seem problematic to some — indeed, the brand need not sell the organisation in a conventional sense, but must aid it’s cause. By drawing attention to the problematic aspects of life with the syndrome, we hope that the identity will promote a greater understanding of Asperger syndrome, assist in fundraising activity, and clearly signpost the charity to those in need.

The Click elsewhere on ID: Jarrolds.

Comments

This is exceptionally well done. Not only is it visually strong, it addresses the communication needs of the charity in a unique and highly effective way.

Very impressed.

Well thought and executed. I love how you kept it straight forward. Reminds me a little of the State of the Obvious work by Mash. Awesome work and great post!

“Monochrome also serves to reduce the revenue required for printing stationery, ensuring that a larger percentage of the money available to the charity goes to those who need it most”.

Not only does the monochrome solution serve a purpose visually, it also serves a functional purpose as well. Very smart.

Really nice! A simple and creative approach.

As visually it is so simple, did the charity go for it straight away? Or did they take some convincing that this was the right direction?

Really nice branding project!

Does nobody else think it could kind of read like they are taking the piss out of intellectually disadvantaged people? Obviously, I know this isn’t their attention but could this ‘straight-forward directness’ be interpreted as ‘patronising’?

Excellently executed. I love the simplicity, and how striking it all is. Personally I can relate to people with Asperger’s Syndrome, let’s just say I’ve have a close experience with it.

@Chris, I agree, I feel that a lot of material designed to inform others about Asperger’s Syndrome take the piss out of them a little, and also, the media, I feel promotes AS as a ‘disability’. I strongly disagree about it being a ‘disability’, it’s more simple put ‘a different wiring of the brain’, people with AS are different mentally, behaviourally, not necessarily physically (some people with AS disguise their AS so cleverly!). There are however, some cases of AS that could be classed as ‘severe’, and could be a disability if left like that.

AS isn’t something that you’re always stuck with. People with AS learn how to overcome their challenges and difficulties, and how to control some of their behaviour. The media treats AS as if its ‘incurable’ etc, well it isn’t a disease, and there doesn’t need to be a ‘cure’, it’s a different way of thinking and functioning (a form of Higher functioning Autism), and doesn’t NEED to be ‘fixed’. I’ve lived with it for all my life, and to be honest, I wouldn’t have it any other way.

It’s amazing how it’s gone from a concept to a terribly executed website. The brand is a difficult one, as it so stark and monotone, but in order for it to work properly it needs a perfectly branded website to back it up, but it seems that it’s not been properly implemented, leaving the website struggling behind this powerful advertising design.

Personally I’m not a fan of the design, but I think if the website had been done properly it could have changed my mind.

Hello Chris, many thanks for the feedback.

We were not involved in creating the current Asperger East Anglia website, but hope to be looking into it with the charity later in the year.

Callum

I love the simplicity, it’s certainly effective – although we do see how Helvetica comes to the rescue again. Not that this was a tricky brief, but it is almost like this style is used as a ‘ lifeboat’ that will get you out of trouble, and there’s a lot of it going on now – Superdry, Cooperative, American Apparel. No doubt it works, but if in doubt, get the ‘H’ out and use it sparingly. I also hope that design starts to move away from what could become the ‘ bland’ification of design.

Hi!
This is VERY cool! I can’t tell what the pens SAY. Do they SAY Asperger(s) on them? If they did, I would pass them out to everyone I know! I have a multitude of pens anyway, seem to be always passing them out. Being the mother of an 18 year old son who has AS, it’s been my desire to spread the joy of knowledge about AS to anyone who will listen so my son’s world is a little more accepting of him. Even if those pens made people go home and get on the web and READ and LEARN – what a FANTASTIC idea you’ve come up with! I found the color scheme instantly striking; it’s quite sharp. I wish you much success!

Hi Margot, thank you for the feedback.

It’s very encouraging to hear such positive words from someone with personal experience of Asperger Syndrome. The pens have ‘A Pen’ and the Asperger East Anglia printed on them, in keeping with the rest of the identity.

Since this article was posted, Asperger East Anglia have opened a shop selling donated goods to help raise funds. The brand identity we created has been faithfully reproduced here too:

http://on.fb.me/yFB88g

I absolutely love it and think it truly exposes the world of aspergers to others. My 8-year-old daughter has it, and yes, everything is taken literally and seen as black or white. Nice to know that an organization like this exists.

This is perfect. My brother actually was diagnosed with Aspergers a few years ago and a lot of people don’t understand that people with Asperger Syndrome don’t look different than anyone else. Thank you for opening this to the public the way you have. This is executed in a way that it educates society about how they act and that they’re not “weird” like so many people think they are. Thank you so much. I can’t even express how much this cause means to me.

Everyone has the qualities mentioned, I think it’s disingenuous to portray a disease as being normal. You’re leaving out the rages and obsessing not over math or science but people and things in general.

When these people feel they’ve been wronged they retaliate. I’ve had several friends including an up-and-coming comedian who had her car sabotaged due to some aspie assumption.

Basically the purpose is to screw with people’s heads. Also, where’s the color in these little pages? Again what I read is give whites special attention because they’re sick and disturbed. You don’t get funding for being Black or from India.

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