Glasgow has now taken a radical new approach to address the issue, establishing a new alliance of partner agencies to work towards its aim of ending rough sleeping in the city completely by 2030. Glasgow’s ‘Alliance to End Homelessness’ is the first of its kind in the UK. With an operating budget of £187 million over ten years, It’s an ambitious and innovative approach to partnership working, offering a significant opportunity to demonstrate that the pooling of resources, skills and expertise can deliver a real and tangible transformation. Crucially, the Alliance has ‘lived experience’ embedded at every level of the decision making process, with people who have actually experienced homelessness helping to shape the delivery of services.

Tangent have worked with the Alliance over the past year to deliver a brand identity for the new venture. The challenge in designing an identity for any form of homeless service is to strike a tone that acknowledges the gravity of the situation, but remains positive and optimistic enough to convince people that something can be done about it. We developed an identity that was modern and positive, but still felt realistic and to-the-point. Uncovering the hidden elements of homelessness was at the centre of the identity. Often, people end up homeless because lots of little things build up - bills, relationships, job losses, responsibilities - all leading to overwhelming stress. The concept of ‘pressure building’ within the identity was conveyed through the layering of photos, text and colour.

The stacking elements of the identity also represent the Alliance’s structure itself: the local authority, the organisations, the charities, the people who work with them, the people who are helped by them - the very makeup of the Alliance further emphasises that no single entity can solve this problem. The systems currently in place have unequivocally failed people, so the Alliance’s hope is that this brand emphasises a new approach - signalling that they are determined, trustworthy and will do what they say they will do. We’ve been really proud to work on this identity and website during this particularly rough year, and we look forward to seeing the strides the Alliance will make.