Client

— Julia’s House — The Big Dog Art Trail

Sector

Charity

Services

Brand Strategy, Brand Identity, Logo Design, Brand Guidelines, Supporter Comms

Visit

- Background

After winning a very competitive tender process, the latest charity we have worked with is Julia’s House, Dorset and Wiltshire Children’s Hospices.

Julia’s House is not a typical children’s hospice. They provide practical and emotional support for families caring for a child with a life-limiting or life-threatening condition, providing frequent and regular support for families in their own homes, in the community or at their hospices. They provide invaluable support for people who really need it and we threw ourselves into the challenge of branding and design for Julia’s House big fundraising project for 2023.

- The Challenge

Julia’s House is working with creative producers Wild in Art to create a large-scale public art trail in Swindon in the summer of 2023. The main trail will feature around 30 sculptures featuring individually designed artworks based on a bespoke balloon dog sculpture commissioned for Julia’s House.

Each ‘Swindog’ sculpture will be sponsored by local businesses and decorated by local artists and communities – all designed to celebrate Swindon’s rich cultural offer; extraordinary heritage; beautiful parks and cultural diversity.

Ultimately, the sculptures will be auctioned off to raise significant funds for Julia’s House, ensuring a fitting legacy for the people and communities of Swindon.

- The Strategy

Our initial brief was to deliver a name, strapline and logo and brand identity for the art trail and after coming up with a host of great options, Julia’s House eventually opted for The Big Dog Art Trail: Swindon goes walkies! The eye-catching logo cleverly incorporates a number of relevant features – a balloon dog, a paw, and a paintbrush – without looking overly fussy. As for the dog itself, think a big doggy shaped balloon from a children’s party!

As part of the first stage of this major project we have also provided Julia’s House with comprehensive brand guidelines and templates of how the branding can be rolled out across physical collateral (sponsor packs, t-shirts, tote bags etc.) and social media. We’re in this project for the long run and will be supporting Julia’s House all the way.

We loved seeing the balloon dog sculptures all around Swindon! In fact, we are so enthusiastic about this good cause that we also sponsored one of the Swindogs ‘Pup Art’.

- The Result

The world’s first-ever balloon dog art trail
23,000 people taking part via an app collecting 210,000 Swindogs and Swinpups
Walking 13,500 miles around the centre of Swindon
£165,800 raised at auction farewell event