Responsive- Design Process 2: D&AD National Trust Brief Research

After selecting the D&AD New Blood 2014 National Trust Brief for my Individual Practise, I felt that it was important to get some contextual research as to the brand of National Trust.

Areas which I felt would be integral to my research would be:

• General Information
• The History
• Types of Places 
• Future of National Trust
• The Current Brand Identity

Alongside this research is research in response to the given Study Tasks throughout the Responsive Module (See Design Practise Blog).

General Information:

The National Trust is a register charity and conservation organisation which specialises in protecting historic buildings and gardens. It is one of the largest land owners in Britain as it intends to allow members of the public access to these sites.

National Trust Logo from D&AD Brief Brand Guidelines

There aim is to protect the areas of land in England, Wales and Ireland, making them beautiful places for people to visit. They are completely independant of the government therefore they rely on sponsership and donations from members of the public. Overall, they have roughly 3.7 million members of the National Trust with 61,000 people who volunteer their time and services to the charity, whether that be as a re-enactor, receptionist or helped, for example. They have just over 350 different sites to visit, such as houses, castles, gardens or monuments, all over Britain and more than 17million people pay to visit the sites every year. Not only that but they serve approximately 3.5 million cups of tea a year to visitors.

History:

The National Trust for Places of Historic Interest and Natural Beauty was formally constituted on the 12th January 1895 as an 'association not- for- profit' by three visionary pioneers; Octavia Hill, Sir Robert Hunter and Canon Hardwicke Rawnsley. The idea of having a place which would conserve the nature and countryside of Britain was thought of ten years earlier but it was only at this point that it was put into fruition due to the inspiration created by the success of the Kyrle Society.

Quentin Blake Illustration of Octavia HillQuentin Blake "Octavia Hill Illustration" [Internet] Available from http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/what-we-do/who-we-are/ (Accessed 13th November 2013) 

Hill was a radical who was convinced for the need for there to be open spaces available for the urban masses and the Trust came from her desire for the poor to have a fundamentally equal culture like the rich had but it was important that the poor had to put some effort into having it, which is where the point of having volunteers came in.

Alfriston Clergy House
John Miller "Alfriston Clergy House" [Internet] Available from http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/alfriston-clergy-house/ (Accessed 13th November  2013)

The first property to be saved under the Trust was Alfriston Clergy House in Polegate which has a carving that gave inspiration to the sprig of oak logo of the National Trust. It was bought for the price of £10 which was quite a lot in the 19th Century. The first natural reserve for the Trust was Wicken Fen, in Wicken Cambridgeshire, whereas the first archeological monument was White Barrow, a large mount of earth in Wiltshire. The Trust would come into establishments through properties being left to them in their owners wills after death or if private owners of the properties couldn't afford to keep them on due to the cost of housing upkeep.

The society started to gain media and press attention in the 1920's and larger names, like Beatrix Potter, started to show their support and gain some publicity for the Trust. Due to the fact that they are a charity, they rely on donations from beneficiaries. One of the most well-known organisations for this was the 'Ferguson Gang', a group of philanthropists who would hide their true identity by using fake names and masks when donating large lumps of money in sacks to the sites. Their unusual circumstances managed to garner a lot of public attention in regards to the plight of urbanisation of our countrysides.

The National Trust was given statutory powers through the National Trust Act 1907 which made it turn from a non-for-profit organisation to an independent act of government. This governance is held by 12 active members of a board of trustees who appoint and oversee all decisions made for the  Trust. This legal position allows for the National Trust to do things which other charities couldn't, such as restoring the buildings properly.

Types of Places:

The types of places that the National Trust looks after is mainly historical architectural structures or buildings of significant cultural importance. Alongside this is the natural aspect, such as stretches of coastline, acres of countryside as well as paintings and sculptures.

"National Trust Annual Report 2012/13 Visiting Figures"

National Trust (2013) "National Trust Annual Report 2012/13" [Internet] Available from http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/document-1355804150050/ (Accessed 13th November 2013) 

To put into perspective the range of different places that people visit, the National Trust complies a list of the most visited heritage sites of that year and the most popular range from a coastline to mansions:

"Stourhead" 

Sarah Holmes/ Sourhead "Stourhead" [Internet] Available from http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/stourhead/ (Accessed 21st January 2014) 

Stourhead is a popular mansion and landscape garden that has a rich historical tapestry that is surrounded by ancient woods and farmland which you are free to wander around and explore. 

Wakehurst Place
RBG Kew "Wakehurst Place" [Internet] Available from https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/wakehurst-place/ (Accessed 13th November 2013) 

Wakehurst Place is a country estate surrounded by the Royal Botanical Gardens which house the largest seed conservation project. It has surrounding natural woodland with large lakes and formal gardens with beautiful tree collections that makes it have one of the most significant landscapes in England.

Giants Causeway
John Millar "Giants Causeway" [Internet] Available from https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/giants-causeway/ (Accessed 13th November 2013) 

Giants Causeway is a coastal range of cliff tops and mountains that can be found on the edge of the North Atlantic ocean which houses the basalt columns that call the Causeway there home. The landscape is breathtaking and highlights the natural wonders of the ocean.

Corfe Castle

National Trust "Corfe Castle" [Internet] Available from http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/corfe-castle/ (Accessed 13th November 2013)  

Corfe Castle is a historical structure from the English Civil War that resides at the top of a hill. The ruins themselves are dilapidated and untouched from the battles it has fought which gives a touchingly bleak yet graphic reminder of the violence they have found here.

What the range of places highlights is how the National Trust has to cater for a wide-range of audiences who value different aspects of our natural existence but this also shows how nature is such a strong part of our cultural make up.

The Future of the National Trust:

"Our Strategy of Improvement"
National Trust 2012/13 Annual Report  "Our Strategy of Improvement" [Internet] Available from http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/document-1355804150050/ (Accessed 26th November 2013)

• What the Trust intends to do is focus on the strong tourist community that Britain brings in and encourage visitors to visit the heritage sites as part of a trip to Britain. 
• They want to increase the amount of volunteers who work for the Trust and better there experience whilst working for the Trust
• The National Trust wants to improve the visitors enjoyment by improving the standard of presentation and customer service
• To improve the Trust longevity in this society, they want to better there digital marketing campaign and integrate technology within the heritage sites as a way of improving the customers visits.

Information from: National Trust "Future Plans: Annual Report" [Internet] Available from http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/article-1356392257433/ (Accessed 13th November 2013)

Current Brand Identity:

The current brand identity that is being used for the National Trust is by the design duo LukeCharles during their time at Wolff Olins. They were approached to create an identity that had to be flexible enough for each different heritage site to communicate its individual identity whilst still being able to talk to a range of ages.

Current Brand Identity

The first aspect of change was the main brand identity with a redraw of the logo design which makes it smoother and less bulky. The choice of the co-created typeface is bespoke to the National Trust and was inspired by the 1748 inscription at Stourhead, one of the Trust Heritage sites. It is produced in 4 different weights which allows for a recognisable voice regardless of the tone being presented. It was integral for the typeface to become synonymous with the logo and was technically drawn so as to save space within literature, making publications smaller thus saving on printing. One different area of the brand identity is using illustration, which they have experimented with using silhouetted illustrations to give more of a softer aesthetic to the brand.

'1000 Places under One Roof' Campaign

The '1000 Places under One Roof' membership campaign uses digital collage techniques to be able to put into place lots of different heritage sites and integrate them all together. This is to encourage people to take out a membership with the Trust so that they can visit all of these places under the National Trust banner, creating the image of an atmospheric and exotic set of locations to visit.

'All Yours All Year' Campaign

The 'All Yours All Year' membership campaign focuses on the members ownership of the National Trust, trying to make it inclusive and encourage people to visit at any time of the year. It is trying to give the message that the outdoors is collectively ours and we need to take ownership of the outdoors.  The different typefaces for the compass highlights the varying approaches and directions that everyone takes but ultimately leads to a love of the outdoors.

Current Membership Pack

As part of the campaign is that they have produced a new membership pack which comes in a folded card bag-style package that includes a handbook with lots of factual information about every heritage site for visitors to use. It is separated into the areas of the UK that they can be found in alongside being alphabetical which makes it easy to navigate information. Included in the membership pack is a map, leaflets, car arming sticker and membership card (See Design Practise Blog for my Primary Research on this).

National Trust Packaging

The packaging produced for the Identity is plain yet in keeping with the ideals of the brand as it sticks to being a sustainable brand which sells natural products that is made from the outdoors. The use of the sticker to keep the package together is simple yet effective and the information is clear. 

Collateral

Each guidebook is updated regularly to be able to make sure that all people within the membership are fully notified of any changes, with leaflets and desktop templates which can keep the membership informed as well.

"National Trust" by LukeCharles
LukeCharles "National Trust" [Internet] Available from http://lukecharles.com/national-trust/ (Accessed 26th November 2013)

The last range is of poster which are to represent and publicise particular heritage sites specifically. These were produced as a way of getting people who attend these sites to show for themselves what it means to them. A competition was set up for members of the public to send in photographs and images that they had taken and these are shown and used within the advertisements alongside the poster style.

Ultimately what this brand identity is trying to achieve is a sense of unity and shared experience for everyone involved, from the volunteers to the visitors thereby making something everyone can be proud of. The main aim of the brand identity is to make it contemporary and they manage to achieve this in a sense, however, they had achieved this whilst being very confined within what they could do with the brand- it still comes across as being old fashioned and traditional. What it also manages to achieve is a lack of connection for younger people or families as it looks like holiday brochure style you would see for older couples going for a no-child allowed holiday park.