This was a great fun project working with Bev at the Blue Skies holiday club, to design and print a series of A5 4-page guides to promote their school summer holiday events & activities.
About Blue Skies Holiday Club
Blue Skies Holiday Club is a voluntary, not-for-profit community group, which raises funds for children who may be experiencing rural isolation in a group of schools in the Retford area of Nottinghamshire. They also provide free holiday activities to families who are experiencing financial hardship, such as sailing, cookery, crafts, trips out for the day, often based around themes like the popular ‘Horrible Histories’ TV series.
The enterprise started one summer holiday 14 years ago when some initial grant funding was used on an activity for children. It went so well the group applied for further grants again from National Lottery, the Council and other funding bodies.
Blue Skies Holiday Club continually involve their young people in their planning so that the activities are focused on their needs.
The Requirements
Volunteer Bev Fullwood co-ordinates the Blue Skies Holiday Club programme and played a key part in the set-up.
Bev explained: “We have grown over the years, so we needed to put together a brochure to showcase the activities on offer to be shared with the group of rural schools, some of which only have a very small number of pupils.
“Our mission is to support families who are experiencing isolation in areas where there are pockets of deprivation, so it needed to be targeted to those families that had any economic issues, particularly as the activities are free for those who are struggling financially.”
Bev wanted a reputable, local designer – Life Design was the perfect choice.
The Activity
“The brochures needed to be very colourful, able to visually highlight the programme of activities that were on offer for children, and engaging for parents,” said Bev.
As well as the visuals, it was crucial that the activity brochures contained dates and times of the activities on offer, as well as a booking form so that accurate details could be given by parents, such as key information and any dietary needs.
“The information we previously shared with parents used to be just a document I had produced in Microsoft Word and in Publisher,” said Bev.
“It would then be photocopied and distributed, but it wasn’t very glossy at all.”
Life Design’s senior designer Michael worked with the group on a style and format that would be engaging, as well as informing and easy to understand, ultimately producing an A4 glossy brochure.
Outcomes and Results
As a result of the work, the activities were much more accessible and easily understood by parents, resulting in more sign ups by families who were experiencing some hardships.
The brochure is so very professional-looking now, and it’s raised the profile of our group and ‘sold’ the activities really well.”
“Life arranged for it to be printed and we delivered it to the children in the schools so that they could visually engage with it, and also reassure parents with it. It was great to be able to use it to communicate with them.
“Life Design made our brochure far more attractive than it was before, and numbers of people taking part in our activities have really boosted.”
Bev is in no doubt that she would use Life again for any similar work.
I would definitely recommend Life Design,” she said. “I found it very useful that the designer Michael is flexible and can make changes easily.”
“He made it so that it was not too much trouble to make a change, and he was happy to fine-tune it. He provided great communications and was very easy to work with.”
View from the Designer
Life Design & Print has done a brochure every year for Blue Skies for the last four years and senior designer Michael approached the brief with the target audience very much in mind.
“It was a clear brief in terms of the information provided, but it needed to be far more appealing and engaging than before,” he explained.
“It needed a strong front cover showing a fun activity, and images inside with a simple breakdown presented for each event. What we wanted to show to more of the things that they do, and make it more animated and fun too.
“We looked at fonts that worked well, and it ended up looking much more organised and professional with the branding and presentation. We also recommended the best glossy print and weight to print them off on, so that it gave the best possible presentation of the business.
“I think it made a very positive impact with the children and parents, and it’s always been a fun piece of work to do.”
