The brief

I was approached by designer Leanne Mallinshaw. She’d been tasked to rebrand Nether Edge and needed someone to provide the words, tone and attitude. I was the man for the job. I met her at one of Nether Edge’s many cafes, where she showed me what she had in mind. There would be brochures, fliers, signs on the sides of bins and big banners hanging from lampposts, all of which needed to draw people into the area and promote what was going on there.

There were a tonne of businesses looking to get involved, ranging from bars and restaurants to mechanics, dentists and even a bowling green. Nether Edge had it all, and it was up to me to show it off to the world.

The process

It’s not always easy to try a product before you write about it, but Nether Edge was different. I spent a lot of time there over the next few weeks, eating loads of food and buying far too much coffee at the village market. Speaking of the word ‘village,’ that’s where I got started. Nether Edge is technically just another part of Sheffield, separated from the ever-popular Sharrow area only by a few trees and a 15 minute walk. But by branding it as ‘Nether Edge Village’ we instantly added a touch of charm. It made it sound bespoke, boujee even.

I played on this as I wrote the rest of the copy. I wanted NEV (what I’m calling it now, to save me some typing) to sound like a little bit of something special, but still approachable and warm. Badda bing, badda boom, this is what I came up with.

The outcome

(All pictures courtesy of Leanne, because the ones I took myself were taken on a much, much worse camera. Which reminds me, if you want some design work of your own, give Leanne a shout. You can see my copy on her new website too!)