BRAND | SHEPHERDS OF GOOD HOPE
FINDING HOPE
Radically repositioning a charitable organization while honouring its past.
Challenge
Outdated perceptions and a lack of differentiation were limiting Shepherds of Good Hope’s potential for donations, recruitment, and social impact. In their own words, “People just think of us as a soup kitchen. If only they knew what we actually do, they’d be more inclined to give.”
Insight
To Shepherds’ clients and donors, “hope” can mean a lot of different things. It’s stability. Food and shelter. Harm reduction. Skills training. Opportunity. Community. And more. To be effective, the new brand needed to communicate Shepherds’ role in helping people find their way to hope—in all its forms.
Solution
The “north star” for our brand system turned out to be, quite literally, the north star. We used this traditional symbol of wayfinding, this beacon of hope, as the iconic focus for the visual brand. We also took advantage of the structure of the organization’s name (“Shepherds of…”) to make explicit the full range of its vital programs and their impact.
“McMillan developed an exciting new brand to position our organization for the future.”
DEIRDRE FREIHEIT, PRESIDENT & CEO, SHEPHERDS OF GOOD HOPE
Digital Experience
An essential component of the rebrand was a completely redesigned, mobile-ready website featuring bright, hopeful photography of Shepherds’ real clients and a new online donation platform, both designed to support the organization’s new, more focused messaging.
Brand Assets
Bright, bold, and colourful, the new brand has been enthusiastically embraced by Shepherds’ employees and volunteers. It honours the organization’s faith heritage while welcoming all. It celebrates Shepherds’ unique place in the community, and recognizes how it has evolved over the years. And wherever people see it, they know: there’s hope here.
