An advertisement for children’s charity Barnardo’s that aims to raise awareness of domestic child abuse seems to have hit a raw nerve. The ad – which depicts a young girl caught in a cycle of violence, underachievement at school and drugs – has led to some 400-plus viewers complaining to the Advertising Standards Authority about the nature of its ostensibly distressing and offensive content.

You only need to watch the ad once to gain an understanding as to why the response was so strong. Yes, the ad is distressing – but what it does manage to do with some success, I would argue – is communicate the underlying message with clarity, which is vital to any campaign with the primary goal of awareness-raising. The ad only airs after 9pm – not a slot ideally placed to be accessible to young children, one of the demographics most likely to be ill-equipped to deal with its content. An issue like child abuse is unpleasant to confront, so why should its treatment in the media be lighthearted? Many of us claim to be virtually desensitised to what we see on our screens. If so, perhaps this ad is an example of when so-called ‘shock tactics’ are necessary if not just.

I read this article this morning, Strategic Design: 6 Steps For Building Successful Websites.

The approach is very similar to the principles which we built our web service offering on 7 years ago, and is the simple pragmatic results of some of the sound usability research that’s been done in academia.

If you are thinking about commissioning a website for your charity or business at the moment then it’s worth a read before you get going, it may just give you a different way of thinking about what makes a website ‘good’.

IE’s experience of serving charitable organisations means that we’re confident that we can produce highly effective annual/impact reports time and time again. It was therefore interesting to learn that the RNID have opted to publish their 2007/8 impact report online, using video and sign language. At first glance, the report certainly presents as an interesting piece of work.

Practically, this move makes a lot of sense. Electronic publication negates the need for large print runs, the cost of which can represent a sizeable chunk of any charity’s increasingly precious funds. The negligible use of paper also has significant benefits, minimising the considerable environmental impact of its production and use. Online publication also has the advantage of linking topics in the report to content stored on the organisation’s website and elsewhere on the web, therefore making the capacity to inform almost boundless.

That’s not to say that there isn’t a case for having a printed annual report that can be physically handed over to stakeholders, that can be left in receptions and public areas and that can be viewed without access to a computer. Indeed, when IE is commissioned to produce an impact report, it still remains largely down to the agency’s Design team to exceed client expectations. However, the number of requests we currently receive to explore how format could be exploited to improve an organisation’s annual report has definitely shot up. The start of 2008 saw IE’s Design and Digital teams collaborating on production of an interactive annual report for UNISON West Midlands region and this project certainly gave rise internally to some really exciting ideas in terms of innovating around the traditional print format…and of course, we’d love the opportunity to translate those concepts to reality.

Centrepoint’s latest arm in its mission to raise funds for and awareness of the thousands of young people at risk of homelessness certainly has that stop-and-stare factor.

The 'Home Duvet'

The ‘Home Duvet’ – brought to us by interior accessories retailer Dutch by Design – fuses a stalwart of bedtime bliss with a stark reminder of all those sleeping rough under what little cover they can muster. 30% of profits from sales of the duvet that features a photographic print of a cardboard box will go to the charity.

Without doubt, the thinking behind the Home Duvet manages to be witty without trivialising the underlying message. Fortunately, the finished product does the concept justice and on initial glance, the box-bedding is resplendent with ambiguity.

Bed down in a box

To lay your hands on some super-smart sleeping kit and help Centrepoint make a difference to the future of thousands of homeless young people, go to http://www.dutchbydesign.com/

For more information about Centrepoint’s work, see http://www.centrepoint.org.uk/

The revamped logo recently unveiled by Crisis can be seen at http://www.crisis.org.uk/ and is admittedly not the fruit of IE’s endeavours, but we’re nonetheless willing to raise our hats to 300million, the agency behind the design.

The new logo is plucky, modern and robust and if personified, the resulting individual would certainly exude confidence – surely a fitting set of attributes for an organisation that affirms of itself ‘homelessness ends here’.

Branding represents the spot where the IE seed was first planted and fourteen years on this expertise, combined with the agency’s experience serving values-driven and not-for-profit clients, meant the team were naturally keen to lay eyes on Crisis’s revamped logo.

With several monumental changes in the third sector on their way – such as the planned merger between Age Concern and Help the Aged and NCH’s debated relaunch as Action for Children – 2008/09 could prove to be an exciting time for charity brand innovation. In the meantime, IE respectfully raise their glasses to the bright sparks at 300million for setting standards of statuesque proportions.