Branding the gateway to Cumbria's rural industries

The Land and Nature Skills Service (LANSS) promotes land and nature based industries in Cumbria. It is the gateway to a broad range of training opportunities, coordinating with providers to address industry needs, and connecting those opportunities with adults and young people aged 16+.

LANSS is a unique service, set up to promote the sector specifically within Cumbria and to attract more people into the varied careers available. As such, any visual identity had to be reflective of the area itself and be able to show real people in real jobs in a realistic, honest and authentic way.

We were appointed to develop the brand and visual identity, and used a wealth of research, stakeholder engagement and feasibility studies to guide our design team.

Through discussion with stakeholders, and from our wider research and discovery into the sector, we developed a proposition and brand values together with a series of key messages that can be used throughout long term marketing and communications projects.

We engaged with both a steering group and the governing board to present, refine and improve the brand approach at all stages, as well as using their wealth of experience and different perspectives to validate the messaging and visuals to ensure that they will appeal to the diverse audiences they represented.

By creating an LN shape, inspired by the structure of farm and path gates, we built a visual identity that was bold, iconic and memorable.

The marque, featuring angles and curves influenced by the landscape around, was combined with a colour palette bespoke to Cumbria. Together, with texture, dynamic crops of the marque and tailored messaging, we built a brand and visual identity that was deep rooted in the subject matter and appealed to the wide, diverse range of audiences that LANSS engages with, from young adults, to employers to training providers.