I was asked by the RSA Friends to design a leaflet to encourage new members. The brief was to design something clean and contemporary that would appeal to a younger audience. From a selection of images sent by the RSA, I prioritised images that showed people of all ages engaging with art in a lively social situation. From the original copy that I was sent, I suggested a shorter strapline ‘Join the Friends’, that was a more direct invitation for readers to engage with the members shown in the photographs. I used the colour that I had previously used in my refresh of the RSA Friends logo alongside an extended palette of greys. I typeset the leaflet in Aktiv Grotesk, a typeface that sits well with the Akzidenz Grotesk that I used on the logo and that is particularly pleasing at a large scale where the subtleties of its design are revealed (my initial designs for the cover had a much larger strapline with a smaller image, which I felt was very striking, but this was adjusted at the request of the client). I especially enjoyed designing the application form and direct debit sections of this leaflet: it was an interesting challenge to work with such a lot of information and to think about how the user would engage with it. When the leaflet is displayed in the gallery, the ‘Join the Friends’ strapline is very eye-catching and visible from a distance: on the strength of this, the RSA Friends asked me to design a large vinyl banner that is displayed at events.
