Vegetarian Society

Instruct worked with the Vegetarian Society to evolve its brand resulting in one of the biggest visual overhauls for the society in their history, developing a new look and feel that is built on their heritage but with a firm focus on the future.

The Society has a new organisational strategy more focused on campaigning and so needed a consistent, strong voice with which to communicate their whole offer. The previous brand looked and sounded outdated and struggled to appeal to a younger audience. 

Underpinning the rebrand is the new and evolved V symbol, reflecting a more confident and assertive organisation. The ‘V’ mark now acts as a flexible container device, equally suited for use in physical and digital spaces.

The brand typography was developed in response to historic recipe books and manifestos from the society’s extensive library, using a contemporary face which embraces a contemporary feel while preserving its rich heritage as the world’s oldest vegetarian and vegan campaigning organisation. 

This is used alongside a new, bolder typeface to carry punchier, more direct messaging and impactful calls to action, aligning better with the organisation’s aims. We harnessed the passion for change within the Society in our initial workshops and worked closely to develop messaging and tools to fight the good fight.

The brand launch coincided with the relaunch of the organisations key priorities and principles – driven by a collective desire for a kinder, healthier, and more sustainable future for every life on earth. This transformation is evident in the Society’s communication strategy, making bold statements and using data in a more compelling way, targeting not just vegetarians and vegans but anyone who wants to make small changes to help create a difference. 

We also assisted in overhauling the Society’s membership magazine, ensuring that it acted as a true extension of the brand.

One of the Society’s key services is their “Vegetarian Society approved” trademarks, helping consumers to trust the products they buy and connecting food businesses with the ever-growing vegetarian, vegan and plant-based markets. The refreshed trademarks can already be seen in supermarkets on brands such as Quorn and in McDonalds restaurants.

We completely redesigned and rebuilt the Society’s website as part of the rebrand. The website was extremely bloated after decades of new content tacked on so the overhaul included an comprehensive review of content and structure to ensure that all users, whether consumer or business, can find the content they need and that casual visitors can engage with the movement in a variety of ways.

The Vegetarian Society cookery school was also rebranded and renamed, coinciding with its move to new, purpose-designed premises in Manchester’s Ancoats. As an offshoot of the core Vegetarian Society brand, we developed simple ‘visual ingredients’ to ensure that the physical space and digital presence were consistent and engaging.