by Sara Templeman.
Over the years Tangled Feet have developed and evolved and our offer has got broader and more complex, with many different strands. We realised it was time to look at the way we were describing what we do and how we do it and so we embarked on a full ‘brand’ overhaul.
We worked on a messaging framework with Annie Bacon from The Space In-between (A UK-based public relations and communications agency led by Binita Walia, a former Tangled Feet Trustee.) The project ran alongside the creation of a brand new Tangled Feet website working with brilliant web designer and developer Tim Jukes. Tim came highly recommended by Annie and Binita, who had previously worked together with Revoluton Arts on a similar project. To complete the brand update, we realised it was time for Tangled Feet’s visual identity to also be reimagined, so we worked with Tim on updating our beloved Tangled Feet logo, which we created ourselves back in 2003!
Summarising such a big project is a task in itself! We had already created a perception audit in advance of bringing in Annie and Tim, shared with our database of stakeholders; performers, creatives, organisations, funders, peers, friends, family, as many people as possible who had some experience of Tangled Feet. We also did a specific perception audit for young people to make sure their feedback was included, seeing as our work so often involves them or is made for them. The aim of the audit was to really hear how we as a company were perceived by others, to make sure that the way we talked about ourselves was authentic, evidence driven and audience led.
This was a great starting point when we began the messaging work and new website project. We collated a huge spreadsheet to log as much feedback as possible from the TF archive including audience feedback from productions, press, reviews, therapies, The Mindfulness Project, NPO peer reviews, feedback from mentored companies, teachers, young people. We collated funding applications, as well as using our old website as reference, which was such a great portfolio of our long and varied history as a company.
After collating all this feedback we embarked on a number of workshops as a team with Annie, we worked on a core messaging framework. How could we summarise the breadth of what we do into a few sentences? This came with its challenges, to be able to cover all our work in theatre including ambitious outdoor projects, work made for young people, therapeutic theatre, as well as all the projects we had delivered in various settings in parks, shops, car parks, seafronts, festivals, on the high street and more! We had to also consider our Therapies work, developing creativity, participation projects, work in schools, commissions, partnerships and the Mindfulness project. Each strand of the company was broken down into pillars. This was to see what we do, how we do it with evidence to back it up. It really was a deep dive into the nitty gritty of Tangled Feet and who we are and it was so interesting!
We won’t delve further into the process in the blog, but here is the Core Message we reached:
The work from the messaging project helped to construct the new website brief, shaping the structure of the new site and helping us edit down a lot of copy and dare I say ‘faff’ from the old site, to focus on where we were up to in the here and now. As a very visual, physical theatre company, we wanted that to be reflected in the site and so we made sure there was space for lots of images, videos and we worked with the fabulous Greta Zabulyte to create a home page show reel.
It’s been a long and thorough process – we made sure to give the project time and space to breathe and the core team, trustees and freelance steering group were also integral in the development of the work, so thanks everyone for all your input. On a personal note, this was such a great opportunity to work with such an expert team. Thank you so much to Tim for creating such a beautiful website and Annie, the work we did was so helpful. I have learnt a lot and I am excited to share our brand new website and apply all the discoveries and findings from the whole project into our communications moving forward.
Find out more about Tim: https://timjukesdesign.com/
Find out more about Annie from The Space In-between:: https://thespaceinbetween.co.uk/
