Powered by CAN

Powered by CAN is a not-for-profit organisation that engages with children, young people and young adults to create local communities where they feel powerful, valued, and connected. They believe that all children and young people have the right to access high quality experiences and opportunities to live a fulfilling life, whatever their background or circumstances.

They achieve this through a range of cultural activities, educational programmes, and talent and enterprise development – delivered to provide opportunities for their participants to engage, learn, take action and lead. They believe in children, young people and young adults and support them to lead the change they want to see, whether that’s at an individual and personal level or on a wider community basis.

Previously Creative Academies Network, their portfolio of projects and activities were successful but the name and brand identity did not reflect their professional abilities and wider aspirations. They needed a complete refresh to align with the evolution of the organisation – this included a new name and brand strategy that would work with the new brand identity to reflect their ambitions for the future.

Powering up every service

As with all projects, we began with research and discovery sessions – getting to heart of what Powered by CAN do and what they want to achieve. We knitted the naming and brand identity process together, trialling a number of routes and naming options to see what looked, sounded and felt right together. These began as broad ideas that were iterated and distilled into what became the final brand identity.

The deliverables for the project included all of the areas of services that Studio Denley provide. Naming, brand strategy, identity design and brand guidelines creation were the starting points, these led to design for print, digital designs for the website and motion graphics for social media and video creation.

Studio Denley designed a new website that was built as part of the refresh. We also provided copywriting and content creation – implementing the tone of voice and writing styleguides developed in the brand guidelines.

Interior graphics and exterior signage were designed for their offices in West Bromwich. The designs include a full wall graphic that proudly displays a quote from their mission statement alongside on-brand, framed prints.

An energetic identity for everyone

As Powered by CAN is a multi-layered organisation, the logo is also made up of individual and visually different parts which come together to create something stronger. The logo is powerful and energetic, with the overall impression of a stamp or brand – something that has been forged together out of multiple pieces.

A diverse colour palette reflects the range of activities and areas covered by Powered by CAN. A split of bright, zingy, youthful colours and more toned down, mature hues give versatility when used in different combinations depending on the audience or service.

All decisions for the identity were taken with inclusivity and accessibility in mind. From the collage style core imagery to the open-source fonts, we purposely created an identity that anyone would be able to pick up and work with regardless of their design abilities. The result is a vibrant, energetic and positive brand identity that is open to all.

A powerful reception

The new name and identity has been well-received by the board, funders, supporters, team and members. In the spirit of inclusivity members of the team were involved in the process throughout to ensure that their opinions were heard.

Powered by CAN continue to go through enormous changes that will be supported by this new identity. The project hasn’t been about renewal, instead we’ve focused on building on what came before while evolving the brand identity and strategy to prepare for what is to come.

To find out more about Powered by CAN, visit their website www.poweredbycan.org

Thanks to:

Website development – Tom Duncan

Motion design – PICA