Four Friends Foundation

Founded by Bob Shaye (Hollywood royalty behind some of the greats like Nightmare on Elm Street, Lord of the Rings and Austin Powers) – his knack for spotting vital stories and gifted storytellers mixed with a passion in unearthing unconventional stories continues with his foundation.

They aim to amplify influential and often underrepresented voices with stories that have the power to reshape our cultural landscape.

Their lead grant programme, 4Youth, supports creative youth development organisations that unlock the potential of young people by spotlighting their stories.

We embarked on a true collaboration, with Bob’s daughter, Katja, to create the brand story, strategy, identity and messaging for both the foundation and programme. Then it was: LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION!

THE CHALLENGE:

Honouring big screen legacy, and beyond

Bob’s career is well documented and revered, spanned decades and has a long list of successful, obscure titles to his name – titles that were often overlooked and underestimated by others. His ability to see the potential and bring them to the big screen to (in his words) “ignite audiences”, is second to none.

Building a foundation’s brand that makes sense of this history and ethos, whilst being future facing and aligned to a vision of accessible creative expression for all, was a challenge.

We had to find a unifying narrative to meet the needs of the founder, stakeholders and beneficiaries – it took a lot of digging, expansive thinking combined with in the weeds brainstorms. How can the story continue to be the star?

“ Thank you for getting us to this spot — it feels much better introducing ourselves to the larger ecosystem with such strong materials!”

Katja Shaye, Executive Director.

The Research:

Our own cinerama – the full, big picture

To understand the foundations, we interviewed a number of close associates – grantees, advisors, partners, family members, Katja and, of course, Bob.

The through line of this brand’s own story was the nature of Bob’s story telling. We learned of moments, sometimes inane, that could be turned into illustrious, obscure tales intentionally playing with the audience and moving them in unexpected ways. This is what became the nugget for expressing the bigger picture – the cinerama – of the foundation. It extended category, vertical or market and instead became about the idea, brought to life through the power of story.

“This was such a fascinating exploration into what makes a great story and how this foundation supports innovative stories, ideas and how they can truly come from anywhere. Their exacting nature, fastidious at times, to unearth that underrepresented tale, that nugget of a golden idea that’s been hidden and amplify voices previously hushed, is extraordinary. It’s an art, and to pull that into an articulate, concise narrative and identity was a real challenge… We loved every minute..”

Lauren Jones, Brand by Boudica

THE STRATEGY:

Creativity unlocks potential

This is the key differentiator that spoke to their ethos, their behind-the-scenes nature and humility of the brand, the family and the foundation. This brand was all about the benefactors, all about the people receiving the support – their ideas, their stories, their drive and spotlight moments. Not the foundation.

A strong undercurrent that drove their ethos was that creativity is the gateway to untapped potential, to opportunities and the solution to so many issues around community, communication, connection, expression, self awareness, empathy, diversity… the list goes on. This was the hook by which the strategy was for their messaging and positioning.

The OFFER:

Programming 4Youth

Two things became apparent early on: Some initiatives within the organisation had gained momentum and clarity about what they were doing and for whom; and other initiatives didn’t sit directly with this programme.
So we had to take a step back and architect the brand offerings and positioning, to make sense of them under a broader bracket.
It was then clear that their first ‘signature’ programme was already in the works and warranted its own identity, that laddered up the the foundation, whilst holding its own. 4Youth was born!

THE IDENTITY:

The Story is the Star

This brand really needed to take a back seat, letting the beneficiaries and the stories be the star. We worked with an existing palette and reworked into a new modern, grounded and pared-back aesthetic, drawing on Katja’s Scandi heritage too.

We kept things very simple with a tight palette, one font family and a subtle nod to film with the sprocket mechanism- its soft curves working well against the stark palette. We wanted everything to feel intentional, subtle and yet powerful.

“The logo is bold, simple and I think, provokes curiosity. Just perfect!”

Katja Shaye, Executive Director.

The impact:

A brand ready to spotlight others

Believe me when I say every word and design element was scrutinised, tested, played with and edited. This was about exquisite execution on their own idea. And the identity deserved the same level of attentiveness Bob’s work had been subjected to in the past.
The result is a masterfully simple communications package, tight messaging, confident positioning and design aesthetic that allows the ideas and stories to shine through.

The collaborative nature of this project surpassed anything we’ve done before, allowing agility in our processes and challenger mindsets to be poked like never before. This is an exciting, quietly confident brand that will have its own big impact, quietly behind the scenes, pushing amazing organisations into the spotlight.

Katja Shaye
Executive Director, Four Friends Foundation

“The brand has made a huge difference for us. We can present ourselves with a level of confidence that wasn’t possible before. And now, we don’t have to solely explain our foundation’s mission through conversations.

What surprised me to most was what a bonding experience it was and how we were able to codify what the foundation is today while making room for its future incarnations.

We are deeply grateful for your wonderful work with us!”

Innovative stories in motion.