A more purposeful website for Article 25
Article 25 is an impressive charity that builds high-quality hospitals, schools and homes in the places that need them most.
But it was quite difficult to work that out by looking at their old website.
The charity asked us to build a new website that really communicated what they do – to the people they wanted to reach. We noticed that they were in need of a little re-brand as well and offered to tidy up their logo and colour palette alongside re-writing their vision and mission statements.
What’s the vision?
The Better Story team headed to Canary Wharf and sat down with about ten decision-makers from Article 25 to discuss exactly how they wanted to present the charity.
We agreed that nobody really understood what ‘humanitarian architecture’ (their previous strapline) meant, and that it didn’t accurately describe what they do.
We went through some brand-strategy exercises to really get to the crux of the charity’s vision, and tease out exactly what they do in plain English.
Who is your website for?
A common weakness of charity websites is a lack of purpose.
The key question we were asking Article 25 was: who is your website actually for? It’s not for the charity itself. And (we concluded) it’s not for that ice-cream man we could see out of the window.
This charity’s main target audience is other NGOs who are looking for experts in the field to help them.
The next question was: what do you want them to do after they’ve looked at your website?
The answer here was – get in touch about collaborating on a project.
Then we needed to consider: what does an NGO need to know and need to feel in order to take that action?
Armed with those answers, we could build a website with a purpose.
The updated brand strategy informed the new and improved logo.
The new site
We rebuilt the website using the Squarespace platform for two main reasons: firstly, Squarespace sites have built-in rules which encourage a minimal, thoughtful and modern design as standard, with the option for further customisation using coding. Secondly, it has a user-friendly interface, so the charity’s in-house team would be able to maintain and update their own website with minimal training.
We redesigned the site from scratch, taking into consideration both the updated brand strategy, and brand styles. This led to a really fruitful process where copy and design worked seamlessly together to produce a highly effective website.
We totally reworked the site structure to make content easier to locate and got rid of repetitive or unneeded pages. We made sure to future-proof the site by setting up an events section and a properly catalogued projects showcase that can easily be added to. Finally, there is a much greater emphasis on photography throughout the site, helping to tell the story of Article 25 and connect visitors to the places, projects and people that the charity is all about.
The new website is clearly aimed at potential NGO partners, from the language used to the information that hits you on the homepage. It aims to provoke a feeling of relief, giving them confidence that Article 25 are experts who can solve their problem. ‘Get in touch’ is now the dominant call to action.
This charity had the courage to recognise that asking for donations from the general public wasn’t a huge priority for them, and should not be the focus of their website.
Instead, the website is now working to fulfil this charity’s specific goals.
Check out article-25.org
They really listened to what we needed, and translated that vision into a strong brand and stunning website.
“It has been nothing but a pleasure working with Better Story to create a new website for Article 25, to include a brand refresh. They really listened to what we needed, and translated that vision into a strong brand and stunning website. Both through our brand identity and the written word, they have succeeded in conveying the powerful message of what we do, and at a fraction of the cost of bigger agencies – so terrific value for money. We have received a number of compliments on our new website and brand already.”
– Gemma Holding, CEO, Article 25
