The future of food

Independent charitable foundation, the Wellcome Trust, has created a sub-brand for a public engagement initiative around food, health and the planet. The Crunch brand is intended to inspire the UK to make nutrition a priority.

The Wellcome Trust wanted The Crunch to be fun and playful, but without losing its serious message; a hard balance to reach. Lynn Huynh, marketing communications project manager at The Wellcome Trust, says, “The Crunch will encompass the entire UK, will last for all of 2016, and involves us communicating complicated topics to a very wide range of audiences, many of whom, for very valid reasons, do not have environment, nutrition and health as a high priority. So the name, look and feel needed to feel contemporary, relevant, and fun, allowing us to convey a serious message and inspire people to care about the issues.”

Creative design consultancy, Blast, led 14 project partners in the development of the new name, brand guidelines, visual identity, messaging and, together with digital agency Itineris, the website and all digital assets.

The naming of the new brand was an important part of the process. According to Colin Gifford, creative director at Blast, The Crunch is, “Fun, foody and impactful.” It also has a second meaning, it affirms that the public is at a crucial moment in time with regards to its relationahip with food and drink. In the same way as the brand, therefore, ‘The Crunch’ name is playful and energetic, but it also has a serious and thoughtful dimension.

These two dimensions of the brand identity ensure that it is relevant for a wide audience; from young children to food scientists. The visual identity also reflects this, it’s bold and colourful and, Glifford says, “In addition to the logo we've created a range of icons, infographics and illustrations, which give us a visual way to talk about the connections and communicate the variety of subjects covered by the initiative.”

Blast have also created a launch film, animated by Nipple. The official launch of The Crunch will take place in March 2016, and after that the full range of activities will commence. Huynh says, “Our stakeholders are responding very positively to the brand,” concludes Huynh. “Even at this stage people are beginning to feel inspired by what we can achieve with The Crunch. We can’t wait for the next stage, and to bringing even more people into this exciting and important conversation.”

Throughout 2016 The Crunch will deliver activities, experiences and discussions about food, health and the planet.