NFP ENGINE

All-in-one Fundraising and Digital Marketing Suite for charities.

COMPANY

NFP Engine

ROLE

Brand Designer

YEAR

2024

Project description.

NFP Engine is a digital agency dedicated to supporting UK charities and non-profits by providing website-as-a-service solutions, alongside marketing and advertising packages. The brand identity needed to reflect its expertise, trustworthiness, and approachability—appealing to charity marketing managers, CEOs, and trustees who may have limited digital experience.

Gladding Digital, an extension of ‘Thomas Gladding Ltd,’ aimed to transition from a personal brand into a team-driven agency model. The goal was to create a brand identity that balanced professionalism with a friendly, dependable feel.

Both brands required distinct yet cohesive visual identities that could work independently while sharing core design principles for ease of use across documents and materials.

Timeline

The project spanned five weeks, from initial brand exploration to finalised visual identities, including logos, colour palettes, typography guides, and foundational brand assets.

Background

NFP Engine fills a gap in the non-profit sector, providing digital solutions for charities with limited budgets and in-house expertise. Its brand identity needed to be professional yet approachable for stakeholders unfamiliar with digital services.

Gladding Digital aimed to evolve from a personal consultancy into a team-driven agency. The new identity had to retain Thomas Gladding’s reputation while presenting a scalable, trustworthy business.

Process.

This category details the step-by-step approach taken during the project, including research, planning, design, development, testing, and optimization phases.

Research & Planning

Conducted market research to analyse design trends in the charity and digital agency sectors. Studied competitor brands, including Enthuse, Reason Digital, Fat Beehive, and Giant Digital, to identify key differentiators. Defined the visual tone to balance professionalism with a welcoming, knowledgeable aesthetic.

Design & Prototyping

Developed multiple logo concepts exploring typography and abstract iconography. Ensured NFP Engine’s design felt modern and accessible for non-profits, while Gladding Digital retained a sleek and professional agency feel. Created distinct yet complementary colour palettes, avoiding green and yellow as requested.

Development & Implementation

Finalised a clean, minimalist design approach, incorporating sans-serif typography for consistency across both brands. Refined colour palettes and brand elements to ensure strong differentiation between the two brands while maintaining a cohesive design system.

Testing & Optimization

Tested logo legibility across various digital and print applications. Ensured clarity in different formats, from website headers to business documents. Delivered brand assets, including a logo suite, colour guide, typography guide, and cover/background page patterns, ensuring usability across all future brand materials.