Westminster City Council
Designhouse were engaged by Westminster City Council to create a new brand and supporting communication materials to launch a new Night Safety initiative. The borough-wide initiative launched in Soho, Leicester Square, Piccadilly, China Town and Shaftesbury Avenue in March of 2022, with plans to expand its reach across the borough.
The initiative sets out to keep Westminster a safe and enjoyable place at night by providing volunteer helpers to support anyone who find themselves in need on a night out.
We created the name, a dynamic and eye-catching identity and multiple launch assets, including a 60 second promotional film, social media posts, billboards, uniforms and event collateral. A brand style guide was also created to ensure consistency across all the assets.
The name ‘Night Stars’ prompts the stars that guide us at night, but also cleverly links to the volunteers who are a ‘constellation of support’, shining brightly through the night. The graphic neon pink line represents safe and seamless journeys.
The use of bright pink neon helps our ‘Stars’ stand out at night. Pink high-vis jackets clearly differentiate from other night shift workers who typically wear orange or yellow and the use of neon clearly draws on the known and well understood ‘night-time language’ of bars and clubs. The continuous neon line travels through all the assets, unifying the brand and providing potential for illustration and animation.
We selected a handwritten style for the Night Stars logo to reinforce the human touch, paired with a secondary typeface that features soft, rounded edges to echo the approachable and friendly personality of the initiative.
In addition to core marketing assets, Designhouse also created a social media campaign to raise awareness of the initiative and encourage volunteer sign-up.