A New Visual Identity for Reimagining Sport, Recreation and Leisure

What does research centred on inclusion, connection, and play teach us - and how should that look and feel?

Client:
All In / Reimagining Access
Sector:
Public Sector / Academia
Project Type:
Design Sprint
Services:
Visual & Communication Design
Collaborators:
All In
The Challenge

Reimagining is a research initiative using participatory research, human-centered design to tackle inequities in sport, recreation and leisure access. The team was looking for a visual identity that reflected not only their research with New Brunswick residents and communities, but the heart of their process, which focuses on connection, collaboration, and play.

Our Response

Our response was to create a visual system that thoughtfully mirrors these values of belonging – balancing accessibility and clarity with a sense of play.

Client:
All In / Reimagining Access
Sector:
Public Sector / Academia
Project Type:
Design Sprint
Services:
Visual & Communication Design
Collaborators:
All In
Client:
All In / Reimagining Access
Client Sector:
Public Sector / Academia
Project Type:
Design Sprint
Services:
Visual & Communication Design
Collaborators:
All In
The Challenge

Reimagining is a research initiative using participatory research, human-centered design to tackle inequities in sport, recreation and leisure access. The team was looking for a visual identity that reflected not only their research with New Brunswick residents and communities, but the heart of their process, which focuses on connection, collaboration, and play.

Our Response

Our response was to create a visual system that thoughtfully mirrors these values of belonging – balancing accessibility and clarity with a sense of play.

"To me, a sign of good visual design is in it's subtlety, when it makes so much sense the design almost disappears into the background because the message that it is conveying is forefronted. That, for me, is what the Made Manifest team did with this work."
All In Founder
The Opportunity

Reimagining Sport, Recreation and Leisure is an innovative project being carried out by researchers at the University of New Brunswick and the team at All In, and was funded by the Economic and Social Inclusion Corporation and the Department of Tourism, Heritage, and Culture from the Government of New Brunswick. With a focus on equity-deserving groups, Reimagining collaborates with residents and local stakeholders to identify and reduce barriers to sport, recreation and leisure. 

In addition to working directly with residents, the research-design team developed Design 4 Belonging. This interactive and collaborative learning experience for community service providers supports them to reimagine new ways of planning and delivering programs in communities.

Website Page MockupsDiagram VisualizationWebsite Style Guide
Our Approach

The Made Manifest team was brought on to guide the design direction and support the development of this 7-week course. In the process, we developed a new, playful design direction for the course material, with a refreshed colour palette and playful visual approach. Following the success of this collaboration, Reimagining saw a need to bring cohesion across their entire digital presence, unifying the look and feel of their new training program with their existing branding and website.

Made Manifest was invited to lead a full rebrand of the project’s visual identity, to introduce a more engaging, human-centered visual direction while maintaining the integrity of their existing logo and website structure. Working closely with the core team, we moved quickly to establish brand personality, followed by weekly design reviews and feedback sessions to iterate and refine the designs.

"They took a lot of complex data and emotions behind this work and presented it beautifully and in a way that does justice to work done by all of the project partners and participants. Huge thanks to Made Manifest.""
All In Founder
Project Outcomes

The collaboration resulted in a new visual identity and design system that embodied the values of research inclusion and participation— a brand that had academic credibility, yet felt warm and playful. 

Along with a new visual identity and design system, we also developed key website components, page mock-ups, branded templates for immediate use, and collaborated with the research team to distill complex research diagrams into visually effective tools for communications.

The result makes the Reimagining project and research further shine in its exceptional approach and commitment to leisure access for all.

2.5
week design sprint
1 in 4
Canadians face barriers to SRL access
2
updated diagrams
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