Project services
Positioning & Purpose
Tone of Voice
Internal Engagement
Messaging Frameworks
Our brief
Outerspace is a London-based placemaking practice with a clear mission; prioritising communities as ‘the real client’. Through community engagement, urban design and landscape architecture, they shape spaces that bring people and nature together in harmony.
But in an industry dominated by risk-aversion, compliance and carbon-heavy convention, their message needed sharpening. With many accolades for their boundary-pushing work, Outerspace needed a brand that reflected their passion and success, without alienating cautious stakeholders or falling into activist cliché.
The challenge was one of balance: capturing the deep conviction and creativity that sets Outerspace apart while also reassuring audiences of the consultancy’s expertise and credibility within the construction industry.
Our task was to define, articulate and create the fundamentals of the brand that would represent this new company. With a holistic scope, including everything from positioning to naming, identity and brand architecture, our brief was to help the C-Suite navigate the challenging journey of brand renewal following this merger, creating a new identity and launching it to the world in double quick time.
What we did
Strategy rooted in face-to-face connection
This project began with time spent in the room. We ran brand workshops with the Outerspace team, gathering quotes, ideas, frictions and inspirations. One-to-one interviews followed, from the founder to each practitioner team, exploring every aspect of their work, from creative pride to project frustrations.
This work helped us surface vital insights: the team’s boldness and integrity; their empathy and pragmatism; their desire to challenge convention without becoming combative. Through these face-to-face meetings with the Outerspace team, personal openness, mutual support and teamwork really came through. Alongside the team’s expertise, each member’s deep care in making the world a better place sets them apart.
Articulating the tension between passion and professionalism
As we gathered stories and perspectives, it became clear: the team wanted to bring more urgency, energy and edge to their comms. In their words, they wanted to be less “nicey nicey and more fighty fighty”. But there was a risk in going too far, of sounding gloomy or difficult to work with.
Alongside this fighting spirit, we felt that the driving force behind Outerspace was care. A deep sense of care and a responsibility to create places where people and nature could thrive. Care to challenge a flawed brief, reimagine a space, question entrenched ways of working, or find better ways to achieve sustainable outcomes.
After much soul searching, we defined the brand’s purpose as “Outerspace creates places that flourish, so people and nature can thrive.” We wrote a manifesto entitled “Rise up and Flourish” to capture the challenging spirit of the business, whilst remaining positive and credible. And we articulated the values, principles and personality of the business in a simple set of guidelines.
From purpose to identity
With the strategic model built, we created a new tone of voice framework: tone principles, sample copy, do’s and don’ts, and a lexicon of “power words” rooted in the team’s language.
We worked closely with experienced identity designer James King at Design Ensemble, to ensure the brand ideas connected up with a new visual identity and a fresh look and feel.
We helped shape the new website, defining the page architecture and message hierarchy and writing all the copy across the new website, from landing page animations through to detailed case studies for the company’s most important projects. These gave tangible and detailed evidence of how Outerspace delivers on its purpose – especially important to substantiate the brand’s challenging and anti-complacent tone.
What emerged was a revised brand that felt grounded, hopeful and clear-eyed. Confident without swagger. Passionate without preaching. Built on the belief that a flourishing space is worth fighting for, and that real collaboration, with communities and clients alike, is the way to make it happen.
The outcome
The new Outerspace brand is already resonating; with clients, communities and the team themselves.
- Internally, the work has aligned the team around a shared language and purpose.
- Externally, it brings sharper clarity to their proposition in a space too often dominated by platitudes and greenwashing.
- And creatively, it opens up new ground, helping them communicate their work with more impact, confidence and character.
This wasn’t just about looking better online. It was about surfacing the truths that already lived within the practice and giving them honest shape and voice that sets them apart.
As ever, we believe strategy is a listening act. Not just transcripts and recordings but noticing what moves people and capturing it with care.
When that happens, brands don’t just sound better. They sing with a unique truth that’s deeply magnetic.
