At Lewes District Council, we wanted to use other methods of communication to ‘spread the word’. A combination of promoting council services, plus messages and themes to pass back to the residents.
One missed opportunity we hadn’t explored was to use our vehicles to deliver these messages. The council has 12 refuse trucks criss-crossing the district on a daily basis, so we looked to exploit this potential outlet.
Initially we’re trailing a pilot on a few trucks. If successful we could look to roll across all council vehicles, not just waste trucks, but others too.
Yes We Can
The aim was to spread a positive message. Plus, it’s easy to become cynical and think one person’s effort isn’t making a difference. So we wanted to remind everyone that collectively we are making a difference and to thank them for their contribution.
We opted for two key slogans – one for each side a vehicle. They were ‘Yes We Can’ and ‘Thank You’.
Design
I designed the artwork for the job. Taking into account most of the trucks will be a moving target, the message and design has to be striking, yet simple.
I didn’t want to overcomplicate the look and feel. I wanted it to be contemporary and appear genuine and friendly. It also had to suit the corporate colours to tie in with the council brand.
Cost and theme also played their part in the design. The ‘Yes We Can’ and ‘Thank You’ parts of the banners are split, meaning we can be retained each time. A new design and message can replace the other two-thirds. This means a new full banner won’t need to be purchased each time.
We plan to highlight different messages across a period of time. The first was to highlight recycle rates, with others to follow. The finished product means we can now communicate locally on a different level.