Wigan-based filmmakers Northern Heart have revealed a refreshed brand identity with the help of Manchester brand consultancy Studio Zenko.
Northern Heart are a group award-winning storytellers and documentary filmmakers, championing inspirational stories and authentic voices. A recipient of the BBC Small Indie Fund for 2024, the production house partners with charities, NGOs and purpose-led brands who believe in the power of emotive storytelling to change hearts and minds. Their work has made it as far as international film festivals and even the Houses of Parliament.
Northern Heart co-founder Scott Bradley said: “It was really clear that we needed a fresh feel for Northern Heart. After being in business for seven years we felt that the brand story and identity was outdated and holding us back. We decided to work with Studio Zenko after being really impressed by how thorough they were in digging into who we are as a business and what drives us to create the work that we do. Throughout the whole process they were really patient with us, took on our feedback, but didn’t hold back from challenging us when needed, which ultimately made us question our decision making and led to a much more considered outcome.”
Jodi Fox, founder and creative director of Studio Zenko added: “It was clear from our first meeting with Northern Heart how important the ‘heart’ aspect of their brand story would be. Their approach to storytelling is highly empathic with a huge duty of care felt towards everyone involved in one of their productions. We worked closely with the founders through a series of brand workshops and development sessions to create a clear brand platform with the room to grow, the flexibility to evolve and, most importantly, the ability to inspire. Maintaining the much-loved original brand heart icon (with a few subtle refinements), we then proceeded to create a new visual identity for the brand – a confident statement of intent with a very human feel at its heart and a story-first approach embedded throughout.”
The new identity has already started to be rolled out across brand comms, social media and the Northern Heart website, with plenty more to be revealed in the coming months.
Northern Heart co-founder Natasha Hawthornthwaite added: “We’re delighted with all the work that has come out of the rebrand project, we’ve never been in a better place as a brand and as a business. The confidence we now have moving forward thanks to our new branding has proven transformative, and the future feels really exciting for Northern Heart.”
