Brand Story
01 Brand Strategy
Our Charity’s Story So Far
In 2010, we were founded as Speakers for Schools by ITV’s Political Editor, Robert Peston, starting a journey which has inspired thousands of young people in state education nationwide. We have facilitated a wide range of exciting talks, from Bill Gates to Alex Scott, from CEOs to adventurers, from comedians to barristers, and everyone in between.
Through our partnerships and activities, we have supported almost 2 million students.
But research from the Institute for Fiscal Studies shows that UK social mobility is the worst it has been in 50 years, which means we need to go much further.
The Problem with Speakers for Schools
Since 2010, we have been known as Speakers for Schools. Named after our esteemed programme of inspirational talks from influential professionals.
As we celebrate our fifteenth anniversary, we have grown to become the UK’s leading social mobility charity and the largest provider of work experience placements in the country.
While talent is spread evenly nationwide, opportunity isn’t. Where you are born and who you are born to are strong predictors of performance at school and future life chances.
Our commitment is clear: we want to increase our support for state schools and colleges to ensure that, by 2028, every young person has access to fully funded, high-quality work experience. In turn, this will enable us to realise our ambition and purpose: to provide fair futures for all young people, improve the rate of social mobility, and secure a balanced distribution of power, wealth, and opportunity in society. But from our name, you’d never know it.
From Programme to Purpose
How could we better represent the breadth of what we do and our primary purpose?
How could we change our name and at the same time connect with our charity’s history?
How could we strategically create continuity and cadence to keep our brand equity?
It’s simple. And powerful.
Our new name follows the same convention of “this ‘for’ that,” while employing alliteration to create additional synergy and harnessing the power of words to craft a bold activist statement of purposeful intent.
Our name is our mission. Our mission is our name.
Speakers for Schools becomes Futures For All.
02 Brand Film
Futures For All is here — and open for opportunity. After 15 years of inspiring and connecting young people to life-changing opportunities, we’re proud to officially launch our new name and brand. Watch our 5-minute film to discover our story.
03 Brand Identity
A Bold Brand Identity Designed for Impact
To make Futures For All a reality, our charity has a relentless focus on impact.
It only follows that our brand’s visual and verbal identity should do the same.
Our bold, originally drawn and crafted logo type, with its condensed letter forms and letter spacing, is underlined not only to make an impact but to underline our important social purpose.
Our ‘underline’ device creates a unique asset that expands to contain programme photography and playfully morphs into characterful illustrations, resonating with young people: a super-long tandem takes students on their journey of discovery together; a girl’s arm reaches far for her work experience finder; a winged pair of sneakers is flying onto the career ladder.
As you would expect from Futures For All, our brand’s typography, aesthetic, and colour combinations are designed to meet AAA or AA ‘Accessibility For All.’ We strive to create digitally accessible and inclusive communications that are usable and understandable by a diverse range of people, including those with various disabilities and impairments.
And our positioning? True to our name (of course):
We believe in fair and secure Futures For All.
