Here is a not-for-profit social enterprise based in Brighton. It was founded in 2008 by a small group of GPs, Practice Managers and nurses who saw an opportunity for change within the primary care system. To further its mission, Here recently created a brand new initiative, Practice Unbound. Practice Unbound brings practice staff together to come up with groundbreaking solutions for primary care – solutions that will make a tangible difference within our NHS.
My challenge was to articulate Practice Unbound’s complex offering, as well as that of its very first solution, Workflow, which was already out in the world. Having been brought into the equation while Practice Unbound was still at concept stage, I was its very first voice.
The project began in research. The first workshop I attended was full of passionate individuals with different ideas about what Practice Unbound was to become. It was difficult to cut through the noise and understand what this service actually was and why it existed. So I conducted several interviews to get to its very core – and begin to understand how to shape the offer on paper.
Creating the first draft of key messaging was tough. It was important to keep the tone soft to appeal to the sector, but avoid tired ‘care’ cliches. Equally, it was vital that the tone was strong and hard hitting. It was a challenging balance to strike. But as ever, once I’d nailed it I felt sparkly.
Some brilliant feedback spurred me on to produce the core web copy, in close collaboration with a brilliant website designer, Naomi Atkinson. Together we created a robust set of brand guidelines to ensure that anyone in the organisation would be able to pick up and work with the brand as it grew.
During the project it came to light that the job titles of the existing Workflow team weren’t in line with the new Practice Unbound brand. So I worked with the project lead, Emma Whelan, to gather feedback from across the team via a set of online surveys before coming up with a range of new titles for each role.
This project was undeniably challenging. Practice Unbound was dear to so many hearts within the organisation, and with such passion came strong views, an inevitable level of tension amongst the team and a fierce determination to bring a wonderful idea to fruition. But it was one of the most interesting and rewarding projects I’ve worked on in my freelance career. I feel honoured to have been part of such a journey, and I’m confident that Practice Unbound will already be making a impact.
Rosy Creative 