Citizens Advice
A voice for everyone
Citizens Advice exists to offer free, confidential advice to anyone who needs it. And to do that, it needs to speak to everyone.
People turn to Citizens Advice with all kinds of problems. Debt, disabilities, rent disputes and family breakdowns. When they do, they’re offered free, confidential advice. It’s a vital service that has changed millions of lives.
But Citizens Advice can only help those who understand what they do, and reach out of them. To do their job, they need to talk in a way that anyone can engage with.
Straightforward, but positive
Our work was part of a wider brand and content refresh, led by content designer Sarah Richards and an in-house team. We created practical verbal identity guidelines that enabled them to get on with the job.
A key goal was simplification – making their communications simple and straightforward, so everyone could understand them. But we soon realised that warmth was vital, too.
People who turn to Citizens Advice are often in crisis, and face-to-face, their volunteers strike a careful balance between honesty and positivity. We showed them how to bring that out in everything they write.
Finding a way forward
As well as our guidelines, we wrote a brand book, which communicated the changes to staff and volunteers at 500 Citizens Advice centres across the UK. And we created poster ads that showed the principles in action.
The result was simple, but powerful: a whole network of independent charities speaking in the same voice. A voice that supports Citizens Advice’s core mission: to help everyone find a way forward.
