Building the UKs food rescue network
The Felix Project and FareShare have been at the forefront of the food rescue movement in the UK for years. But as things have got increasingly hard for charities and the people they support, there was a feeling that their impact could be multiplied by joining forces.
But bringing together two organisations, internal cultures, and brands – each with an extensive set of products, services and partnerships – isn’t straight-forward.
Following a competitive pitch process, Red Stone were appointed by The Felix Project and FareShare to lead the creation of the brand for the newly merged organisation. Running multiple workstreams across naming, brand architecture, strategy and visual and verbal identity, the brand needed to be capable of uniting 2 incredible organisations – giving them a shared purpose and attention-grabbing identity.
Engagement
– Engaged and managed input from stakeholders across both existing organisations
– Led brand steering group sessions with stakeholders throughout project
Discovery
– Workshops with volunteers, staff, corporate partners and donors
– Surveys, interviews and analysis
– Site visits to FareShare and The Felix Project depots
Naming and strapline
– Naming and strapline exploration
– Naming testing and engagement
Brand architecture
– Audit and analysis of existing brand structures
– Brand architecture principles
– Brand architecture framework
Brand transition
– Brand transition strategy and roadmapping
– Dual brand toolkit
Strategy
– Proposition, purpose and personality
– Brand narrative
Creative
– Tone of voice
– Key messaging
– Visual identity system
– Iconography and illustration
– Motion
Testing
– Quantitative and qualitative testing
Delivery
– Brand guidelines
– Consulting and support on planning for brand launch and rollout
– Brand activation campaign
Uniting two incredible organisations
Bringing two longstanding brands together takes a real understanding of their individual internal cultures. Red Stone ran an in-depth discovery phase, digging deep into what made both organisations special – the overlaps, the differences and the differentiators. We led workshops, ran interviews and got our high vis and steel-toe-capped boots on – packing, shifting, and loading surplus food on site visits to regional depots.
What we found was two groups of humans naturally united by a palpable sense of positivity, purpose and can-do attitude.
Rescuing food for fuller lives
This shared sense of purpose became the foundation for the new brand strategy. Built around the proposition that Felix is the charity ‘Turning surplus food into a force for fuller lives’, the strategy speaks to Felix’s broader sense of social impact.
The strength of the positioning lies in its duality. Felix rescue and redistribute food, but this goes far further than putting food on a plate. Their work has a multiplier effect – strengthening communities, opening up opportunities and sparking a massive change in people’s lives. The concept of ‘fuller lives’ heroes this multiplier effect in a succinct and memorable way.
A name with a powerful story
Naming a newly merged organisation often involves the search for something new. But in this case, the most powerful answer already existed.
The Felix Project was originally named in honour of founder’s Jane and Justin Byam Shaw’s son Felix, who tragically lost his life. From the outset, there was absolute consensus across both organisations that this deeply personal legacy had to be carried forward into the new brand.
While Red Stone ran an extensive naming phase to explore and test various brand and strapline combinations, the exercise ultimately proved that the simplicity, authenticity, and emotional gravity of Felix was the clear way forward.
Paired with a new strapline ‘Rescuing food for fuller lives’, the name and strapline bring the perfect mix of emotion, simplicity, urgency and clarity.
Unity not uniformity
Both organisations brought a huge mix of sub-brands, services, and partnerships to the table. Combined with FareShare’s network of regional partners across the country, the brand landscape was complex. Defining an intuitive and future-proofed architecture model wasn’t just about helping audiences understand and interact with the brand, it informed crucial internal conversations and decision-making taking place during the merger.
Red Stone built a simple architectural model focused on ‘proximity to the core’. The model was designed to deliver on three clear objectives: making the brand easy to understand externally, easy to use internally, and amping up brand equity in the new core brand – all whilst ensuring regional network partners retained a sense of ownership.
Giving things some zest
When it came to the visual and verbal identity, we knew we needed to bottle the spirit of staff and volunteers. Red Stone built a personality with a big sprinkling of character, a dash of quirky wit and good helping of emotion.
The identity system is anchored by a vibrant green and the Felix logo – based on Felix’s own signature. The visual approach heroes these assets – featuring layout compositions that intentionally embrace ‘a bit of wonk’ to keep the brand feeling grounded and human. Paired with a charmingly human illustration style created in-house at Red Stone – plus a bold, fresh tone of voice – the entire system is designed to stand out and cut through with a mix of humanity, quirk and emotional oomph.
The new brand gives Felix the foundation to unite their new organisation, reach new audiences across the UK and supercharge their potential to turn surplus food into a force for fuller lives.
“Red Stone helped us unite our vision and values through a single, compelling brand that reflects who we are today and where we're heading next. They skilfully navigated the challenges of our merger and made sure people felt heard. The result is a unified and engaging brand identity that reflects the scale of our ambition – rescuing good food, strengthening communities and helping people lead fuller lives.”
