CHOOSE PROJECT
Project created in partnership with Perfect Storm
Top challenges we overcame
Each sector — policing, fire and rescue, paramedics, prisons, probation, courts — has its own culture, symbols, and expectations. The brand needed to feel relevant to all of them without diluting meaning.
CHALLENGE ONE
Creating an awards identity that spoke to multiple public service sectors at once
CHALLENGE TWO
Choosing a name that carried weight, aspiration, and friendliness in equal measure
It had to communicate purpose, feel recognisable across justice and emergency services, and be easy to repeat and brand. It also needed a shorthand nickname that didn’t undermine credibility.
The awards celebrate deeply human stories. The tone needed to feel respectful, uplifting, and clear — not corporate or overly formal.
CHALLENGE THREE
Developing messaging that balanced professionalism with warmth
We had to find symbols that worked across uniforms, roles, and identities: shields, stars, cups, chevrons, hands, and the “J” for justice — each refined into something modern and cohesive.
CHALLENGE FOUR
Designing visual metaphors that honoured protection, service, and community without leaning on clichés
CHALLENGE FIVE
Ensuring the brand aligned with Skills for Justice while standing as an independent event identity
Colours, typography, and structure needed to echo the Skills for Justice brand but still feel like a celebratory, distinct entity in its own right.
The identity needed to work for everything: website landing pages, digital banners, stage signage, printed collateral, trophies, and partner materials — all consistent, scalable, and ready for annual reuse.
CHALLENGE SIX
Building a flexible visual system for use across all event assets
Brief
Skills for Justice wanted to launch an annual awards ceremony to honour dedicated individuals in sectors such as police, fire and rescue, paramedics, and prisons.
The awards aimed to boost the Skills for Justice brand image and build community recognition.
They needed everything from a fitting name and key messaging to branding and event collateral that would resonate with a diverse audience. The brand identity needed to feel relevant to each represented sector while maintaining cohesiveness.
Research
Target Audience Research
We reviewed messaging across the justice, healthcare, and fire and rescue sectors, studying language that captured their core missions.
This gave us an understanding of values that resonated most deeply.
Competitor Research
By examining 12 similar awards ceremonies, we identified common naming and messaging conventions and studied how existing events appealed to their audiences.
This helped clarify where Skills for Justice could position themselves as a unique, inclusive brand celebrating values like justice, equality, and service.
Naming
From the research insights, we compiled and tested various name options, aiming for something original, clear, and reflective of the ceremony’s purpose.
"The Inspire Justice Awards," shortened to “The Justies,” emerged as a distinctive choice. It communicated both aspiration and recognition, resonating with the sector's mission and giving it a friendly nickname for brand growth.
Messaging
We presented three potential tones of voice: succinct, chatty, and concise-yet-friendly.
The client chose a concise and approachable tone, which we developed further, crafting a landing page that conveyed the award’s purpose in an engaging way for the Skills for Justice site.
Design
Visual Metaphors
We brainstormed symbols representing justice, service, and protection. By sketching combined visuals, we explored icons that honoured each sector.
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J: ‘J’ For Justice is a quick reference to the awards themselves. A ‘J’ also looks a lot like a shield and an award itself, so it will work well as a visual device.
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Shield: A shield is a clear metaphor for protection. It is one of the rare icons that work well across all the services from medical to army, police to fire. It also looks like 2 J’s, so it will work well as a reference to the name.
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Cup: A cup or trophy is an obvious reference to awards and service and, again, has a similar shape to a ‘J’.
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Humanity: It would be nice to reference the human and caring element of the justice service. Therefore, hands or a physical form is a great way to do this.
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Chevrons: These are a visual device that is used in many elements of the justice department, particularly the uniforms of the Police and the armed forces, and therefore could work as another visual metaphor.
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Star: A Star represents brilliance, achievement, inspiration, and optimism, so they are a great visual metaphor for the awards and the people receiving them.
Logo Design
Using Skills for Justice’s existing brand colours and fonts, we refined several logo concepts that maintained unity with their brand identity while representing the diverse sectors equally.
Logo Layout Options
After selecting the final logo, we designed variations for layout and colour, mock-ups for event collateral, and created an awards toolkit. This flexibility ensured consistent branding across all event assets.
Result
The Inspire Justice Awards launched successfully across the UK, with event branding and assets showcased on Skills for Justice’s website and across digital channels.
This positioning allowed Skills for Justice to partner with major organisations, including Unison, NHS Trusts, and HM Courts & Tribunal Services.
Coverage from media like Tech UK, Policing Insight, and Emergency Services Times demonstrated the awards' broad appeal and alignment with Skills for Justice’s mission of community support and recognition.
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Top challenges we overcame
AMBIT had value, but the positioning was vague. Potential clients didn’t know what it did, who it was for, or how it worked. The biggest challenge was turning a fuzzy offer into a crisp, confident product.
CHALLENGE ONE
Clarifying a product that few prospects truly understood
CHALLENGE TWO
Creating a name and messaging system that made the product instantly recognisable
“AMBIT” lacked functional meaning. HR teams — time poor and under pressure — couldn’t decode it. The challenge was renaming and reframing the product so its purpose was obvious at first glance.
The product needed its own presence but still had to sit comfortably within an established public sector brand. Striking that balance — distinctive yet aligned — was a key creative challenge.
CHALLENGE THREE
Aligning the product identity with the Skills for Justice master brand
HR managers in policing, fire and rescue, and paramedicine share similar pressures but very different contexts. The messaging had to speak to universal motivations while still feeling sector-specific.
CHALLENGE FOUR
Designing clear, credible messaging for a complex audience across multiple services
CHALLENGE FIVE
Restructuring the website experience to explain value quickly and logically
Public sector HR teams don’t have time for marketing fluff. The existing page buried the benefits. The challenge was rebuilding the narrative so users could understand what it is, why it matters, and how it works within seconds.
From the product page to a brochure, every asset needed to support conversations, not complicate them. The challenge was creating tools that were simple, confident, and practical for Skills for Justice to use every day.
CHALLENGE SIX
Building a full sales toolkit that was both compelling and easy to use
Brief
Skills for Justice, a key player in the public sector, had launched a new service called AMBIT. AMBIT helps public service organisations research and analyse staff satisfaction and supports them in making improvements.
They approached us because their current marketing materials for AMBIT were ineffective, leaving potential clients confused about their offering.
They needed support to:
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Solidify the product offering
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Create targeted messaging
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Brand the product as an extension of Skills for Justice
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Restructure and copywrite the AMBIT product page on the website
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Create a new product brochure as a sales tool with new copy and branding
Research
SWOT Analysis
We examined competitors, their product descriptions, tones of voice, and branding. This analysis revealed a niche for AMBIT that aligned with the needs of modern-day public sector HR managers.
Target Audience Research & Persona Creation
We created personas for HR Managers in the fire service, police service, and paramedics, highlighting their core pain points and intrinsic needs. This helped us tailor our messaging and product benefits effectively.
Product Benefit Hierarchy
Based on the personas, we compiled all product benefits into an overall hierarchy and created specific hierarchies for each persona, ensuring targeted marketing collateral.Tone of voice creation
We adopted simple, straightforward language, recognising the time constraints and resource limitations of public sector workers.
We also integrated terms related to duty and service, resonating with their motivation to ‘do good’ for the country.
Naming
We realised that one of AMBIT's major challenges was its lack of clarity.
Renaming it to AMBIT Surveys made its purpose clear.
The tagline "Discover what your staff think" succinctly communicated the product's value.
Messaging creation
Combining the new name, benefit hierarchy, and tone of voice, we developed clear and concise messaging that effectively conveyed the product's benefits.
Website wireframing
We created a wireframe based on best-practice storytelling, outlining what, why, who, how, when, and where.
This structure made it easy to communicate the benefits of AMBIT to the target audience.
Once the wireframe was approved, we crafted the copy in the agreed tone of voice.
Brochure creation
We translated the website content into a brochure format, creating a valuable sales tool that mirrored the website's clear and engaging presentation.
Result
The rebranded AMBIT Surveys website and brochure received enthusiastic feedback.
The sales team reported higher conversion rates, attributing the success to the new sales tools.
AMBIT Surveys has since gone from strength to strength, significantly benefiting Skills for Justice and their clients.
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Client's perspective.
"Client quote goes here".
Client's name
Client's job role
5/5:
CLIENT
Skills 4 Justice
INDUSTRY
Public sector
ABOUT
Skills for Justice, a UK-based non-profit, supports workforce development in critical sectors like justice, healthcare, and community safety. They aim to maintain high standards and provide training to ensure essential skills are met across these areas.
