Some clients arrive with a deck. Others arrive with a mission. Inspire turned up with both — plus a building blueprint and a very forthright chorus of teenagers. We liked them immediately. Inspire is locally loved and properly impactful: a charity shaping brighter futures for young people through mentoring, skills, and safe spaces that actually feel safe. They reached out to Against Ordinary with a brief that was refreshingly blunt: more creativity, please. Music to our ears.
What we’re working on
1) A brand for under-16s
Not a watered-down version of the “grown-up” brand. A real, distinct identity that speaks in the right tone, moves at the right speed, and looks like it belongs on a cracked phone screen at 8:03 p.m. We’re building a system that flexes across after-school flyers, socials, programmes, and the everyday ephemera of youth culture — without trying to cosplay as it.
2) Branding a purpose-built expansion
Inspire’s new building is designed from the floor up to help young people thrive. Our job is to make sure the environment says you belong here the second you step through the door. Wayfinding that’s friendly, not shouty. Spaces that invite ownership, not anxiety. Materials that are tough enough to live a real life — and good-looking enough to deserve one.
Designed with them, not at them
This isn’t a case of adults guessing what teenagers think is cool (grim). From day one, we’ve brought young people into the process — workshops, crits, “hot takes,” and the occasional ruthless eye-roll. We’ve tested language that lands, typography that reads on a bus, colour that holds its nerve under fluorescent lighting, and iconography that doesn’t accidentally mean something else on TikTok.
Highlights so far:
- Co-created visual language that teenagers can adapt without permission slips.
- A voice that’s direct, warm, and never patronising.
- Modular graphics built to be remixed by the very people using them.
- Environmental moments (hello, corners and corridors) that turn dead space into micro-stages for celebration, guidance, or just a bit of quiet.
From “for” young people to owned by young people
The difference shows in the details. Posters you can finish yourself. Surfaces that invite scribbles, not shushes. A brand toolkit that hands over the keys and says, “Go on, make it yours.” The result isn’t simply making Inspire a place for young people — it’s making it a space owned by young people. That shift matters.
Why this matters
A lot of youth branding talks big about empowerment and then locks the files in a folder marked “do not edit.” Inspire wanted the opposite. By opening up the system — and building clear, simple rules that reward play rather than punish it — we’re helping Inspire grow its impact without losing the spark that made it beloved in the first place.
What’s next
As the new building opens and the under-16s brand rolls out across programmes and platforms, expect to see the identity living in the wild: on walls, in feeds, on hoodies, across sticky tables, and probably in a few school planners too. Exactly where it should be.
If you’re a youth-focused organisation that wants creativity with consequences — the good kind — let’s talk. And if you’re one of the young people shaping this with us: keep the notes coming. Your critiques are brutal, and they’re brilliant.