Cover and spread of the Masterplan brochure we produced for Rochdale Development Agency. This was part of our work in devising and implementing an identity for their Dale Mill development, one of the exemplar projects of the Government’s Housing Market Renewal Initiative, which aims to regenerate deprived areas of the UK.

We decided that we should avoid projecting an overly commercial image for the development, and focused instead on its social agenda, representing the aspirations and concerns of the people living in and around the area through a series of photographic portraits and quotations. These are supported by an understated logotype, a clear typographic system, common colourways, and changing messages. The ‘talking heads’ portraits we produced in collaboration with photographer Jean-Philippe Defaut not only provide a visual and editorial focus for communications, but made an important contribution to the project’s consultation process, and were exhibited in Rochdale’s Touchstones Gallery.