Municipality of Zoetermeer | Enjoy Life
Everyday questions. Straight answers.
Disciplines
Strategy, concept, visual identity, art direction, illustration, campaign, content & video
Client
Municipality of Zoetermeer
Date
September 2018
A question about money. About health. Loneliness. The neighbourhood. Or simply something you cannot quite work out. Not every question needs to become a case file.
Enjoy Life is a place in Oosterheem where residents can simply walk in. For information, advice, contact or a helping hand. No complicated route. And above all, before a small question becomes a big problem.
01.-
The challenge
Not another service desk
Enjoy Life is not a traditional community centre. But it should not feel like social services either. Its strength lies exactly in between.
A place where there is something to do and discover, where people meet and where help is close by when needed. Do not start with the system. Start with everyday life.
Do not start with the system.
Start with everyday life.
02.-
The insight
Everyday questions. Straight answers.
People do not always ask for help straight away. Sometimes they wait because the issue does not yet feel serious enough to ask for help.
Money, health, social contact, safety in the neighbourhood: ordinary subjects everyone deals with sooner or later. No complicated procedures. No heavy language. No label on the question.
Just walk in.
03.-
The approach
The neighbourhood as a starting point
Oosterheem is more than a postcode in a brief. The neighbourhood itself becomes the visual world of Enjoy Life. Familiar places, people and situations come together in one illustrated landscape.
Each of the five themes has its own place and colour. Different subjects, one familiar world. Something complex becomes surprisingly simple.
04.-
Recognition
Help has a face
Behind every organisation are people. So why hide them?
Local partners and professionals each have their own illustrated avatar. Not as decoration, but as a recognisable face. The same faces appear on the theme cards, in the infographic and in communication around Enjoy Life.
When someone walks in, they can recognise a person. Recognition makes the distance smaller.
05.-
From card to street
An identity that becomes part of the neighbourhood
The identity does not stay on paper. Theme cards, ads, social media and the infographic bring the same world outside. At the location, window graphics, signage and other materials make Enjoy Life easy to recognise.
From communication to environment. From environment to landmark. This makes walking in feel easier, both literally and figuratively.
06.-
In practice
People find their way in
Looking back, we hear what that recognition achieved. Residents find Enjoy Life through communication in the neighbourhood, through Facebook and regional media, then walk in with all kinds of questions.
That is the idea: do not wait until a question becomes a problem. Make contact possible earlier.
Ask sooner. Talk sooner.
Do something sooner.
07.-
Still relevant
An idea that still works
Enjoy Life still exists. Residents of Oosterheem can still come in with questions about money, parenting, loneliness and changes in their lives.
The original communication challenge is still relevant: how do you make the distance between residents and the municipality smaller?
Do not communicate from the service desk. Start with people’s everyday lives.
Looking back
The people behind Enjoy Life
The people behind Enjoy Life look back on how the initiative started, what they wanted to achieve and how the visual identity worked in practice.
How do you make it easier to reach out?
We give social initiatives a familiar face through a distinctive identity, illustrations and a campaign close to everyday life.
Get in touch