Hello!

Welcome back to my (revamped) newsletter. As some of you may know, I was off work on maternity leave for the majority of 2023 and returned to work in January this year. Balancing motherhood and running a business has so far been what I’d describe as an enjoyable juggle. Work is giving my brain the creative outlet it needs, whilst motherhood has given me a whole new purpose and motivation, but it is no doubt a constant balancing act between the two.

It’s been a while since you last heard from me, and truth be told I’ve sat on this email in my drafts for nearly 2 months. I’ve spent ages agonising over details and decisions about the format going forwards and whether “this is the final final version?!” But then I realised, it’s just an email, nobody really cares if you decide to change something down the line, just hit send and get over yourself! So that’s what I did.

For those that don’t know or need a little re-introduction, I’m Maddy, a designer living and working in Norwich and specialising in concept-led brand development, visual identity and graphic design for community-spirited businesses. I’ve been working as my own boss as a designer for almost seven years and have a D&AD pencil under my belt for my creative ideas.

Over mat leave I spent a lot of time thinking about the types of businesses I wanted to work with on my return to work. Who they were felt really clear to me, but defining them in a concise way wasn’t so easy. I don’t niche down in a specific sector, or only work with businesses of a certain size (mainly because I believe good design should be accessible to all and not reserved for “big business” - more on that later), but I did notice 3 things that define each of the businesses I like to work with:

👥 They are focused on building something bigger than themselves

❤️ They want to leave the world in a better place than when they started

👫 They want to bring people together and facilitate connection

I use the term ‘community-spirited’ to describe who I work with, rather than simply ‘communities’ because as I was reflecting on who these businesses are, I realised some of them may not describe themselves explicitly as a community, but the essence and spirit of a community is there, “in spirit”.

In each edition of this newsletter I will share what I’m currently working on “from the design desk”, the story of translating a Founder’s vision into the visuals you now see, and some useful links to people doing cool things in the community and brand space.

The idea behind The Vision Beyond The Visuals is to highlight the thinking behind what a brand looks like. After-all, good design is about so much more than just how things look, it’s about how it makes people feel.

Thank you for being here, speak soon.

Maddy

P.S. For those of you who signed up to Paiving the Way originally, I’ve included you in my list but please feel free to unsubscribe if you don't want to receive this newsletter.

From the Design Desk

Coming back form mat leave I’ve been lucky enough to pick up where we left off with a number of old clients, as well as picking up some new ones along the way. My current projects include:

🌇 Brand development work for a retainer client in the PropTech space who are on a mission to transform our relationship with the built world and its impact on communities, business, and the environment

🌵 A visual identity for a new client in the community and social cohesion space who is moving away from a personal brand, to a new business name

💪 Funding application designs for a social enterprise that supports young people experiencing trauma in slums, conflict areas and refugee camps

💻 Website updates for an old client working in tech who has developed some new services since we originally worked together on their brand identity and website

💬 A visual identity for an old client who is taking a new direction with her personal brand and needs an identity to reflect the change

From the vision to the visuals

Brighton Fibre is a local challenger brand offering fibre broadband to businesses and homes across Brighton & Hove. Rather than be recognised as just another broadband provider, they wanted to create a brand that represented their values and their love of the city. They wanted a brand that the community would be proud to support.

That’s the (community) spirit!

Thanks for reading. I appreciate that inboxes are full at the moment so congrats and thanks if you made it to the bottom of this! I’d love to continue the conversation elsewhere - connect with me on Instagram and LinkedIn or even over a coffee IRL

P.s. If you enjoyed this email, please consider forwarding it on to someone you think may enjoy it too 🙏