I collaborated with 31% Wool to help roll out a friendly and engaging new tone of voice for the HR and Organisational Department (HROD) of the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).

“Nick quickly grasped the intricacies and breadth of the client’s verbal comms, and brought to life some previously quite generic pieces with our new verbal language and a consistent tone of voice. He was happy to turn around some tight client deadlines, and I hope we’ll be working on more projects together in the future.” – Julia Woollams, creative director, 31% Wool

The verbal narrative is based on four ‘quadrants’ that play on banking terminology, framing all communications in terms of assets, liabilities, risks and returns. HROD might describe people as its “greatest asset”, for instance, or discuss “unlocking returns” for its staff.

My brief was to translate this conceptual approach across a range of materials – from landing pages to onboarding packs – while balancing the need to be punchy and direct, but also warm and welcoming.

I also wrote guidelines to help HROD staff maintain this tone of voice across other day-to-day applications.

> Read more on my website