Royal Caledonian Education TrustWe are delighted to welcome Edinburgh Napier University student, Neve Chambers, who has joined our Communications Team from the School of Arts & Creative Industries to develop a portfolio of digital assets in support of the imminent launch of our new brand identity and narrative.
Our rebrand project is simply one of a number of exciting things planned to take our charity forward in the months and years ahead to reach greater numbers of children and young people from serving personnel, reservist and veterans families in Scotland. Therefore, there is no-one better placed than the children and young people we currently support to help us do exactly that, who gained valuable experiences working with Electrify Communications to have their say in developing a new brand for our charity.
Since February, our children and young people have made an invaluable contribution to co-produce our new name and logo as well as co-develop a fresh series of communications to peers in a language that will be easily understood and, hopefully, resonate stronger than ever before. Better still, they have also helped us to co-develop further communications to those who support them as well as those making important decisions about their future to help transform attitudinal change.
There’s plenty more exciting news to follow about our the launch of our new brand identity and narrative in the weeks ahead and that’s all we’re prepared to say for the time being. Neve will bring her knowledge, skills, creative energy and flair to develop a series of bold, dynamic and vibrant graphic expressions which will reinforce the impactful communications our children and young people have co-produced with Electrify Communications over the past six months.
Neve is the second student to join us from Edinburgh Napier University, an institution which has received gold-standard recognition of its work in support of the Armed Forces community, through the Armed Forces Corporate Covenant. What’s more, the university has established a very strong reputation for widening participation, which supports young people, from deprived areas across Central Scotland, overcome unique challenges to pursue higher education pathways.
Having started her role last week, Neve has taken some time out to share her thoughts about the project:
“Graphic design has always been a passion of mine, since being in school. I used the first lockdown to diversify my skills by creating and designing websites and apps. When I heard about this project I knew it was the perfect opportunity to apply these skills I had recently learned. After speaking to Gary and some of the young people involved in the charity, I felt we had similar mindsets and final goals for the rebrand so it just felt natural to join the team.
“Throughout my three years at Edinburgh Napier University, we have explored pretty much every idea generation technique under the sun, which means I have the skills and confidence to know which will work well for me to provide the best quality and quantity of ideas for any given project. Were also encouraged to be crazy and expressive with our ideas, and then reel it in if need be rather than the other way around so this ethic has been engrained in my mindset.
“I feel honoured to be part of the rebrand team and the Royal Caledonian Education Trust does such great work in support of children and young people from serving personnel, reservist and veteran families, so the idea that I can help them get more recognition for that is amazing. This will also be my first piece of ‘published’ work so the stakes feel high, but I’m loving the way it’s going. They say do something you love and you’ll never work a day in your life, it’s cheesy but it is true.
“I love graphic design, and getting involved with the charity’s Communications Team has been so much fun. I’ve also enjoyed the flexible working from home schedule and using it to work in different locations. Sometimes just sitting in a coffee shop with your laptop can give you that spark of inspiration you didn’t know you needed.”