National Autistic Society

Redesigning a leading charity’s magazine in line with its new brand and best practice guidelines for accessibility

Sector

  • Charity

Expertise

  • Content strategy
  • Design

Deliverables

  • Print magazine
  • Digital magazine

The client

The National Autistic Society (NAS) is the UK’s leading charity for autistic people, providing direct guidance and support to tens of thousands of people each year, and running campaigns to change national policy and practice. Its magazine, Your Autism, is read by the charity’s 22,000 members.

The challenge

In 2018, CPL started working with the NAS to redesign and manage the production of Your Autism. The charity was in the process of introducing a new brand identity, and the design needed to incorporate that brand, which was not yet tested in an editorial setting.

Autistic people often struggle with change, so it was essential to manage member expectations and create a magazine that was accessible and engaging – with clear layout and signposting – as well as fresh, modern and creative.

The solution

CPL’s creative team refreshed the look and feel of Your Autism, using elements from across the charity’s extensive new brand guidelines, and produced design templates for the magazine in line with best practice for accessibility, legibility, sensory issues and consistency, taking guidance from a range of expert resources.

The resulting design was clean and uncluttered, consistent in appearance, and defined in purpose, as autistic people can find busy pages and unclear messaging overwhelming.

The contract win adds to CPL’s expertise in the charity membership sector. Other clients include Versus Arthritis and the National Childbirth Trust (NCT).

National Autistic Society in numbers

700,000

The number of autistic adults and children in the UK

£24

The cost to become a member and receive Your Autism magazine four times a year

CPL was a great choice for the redesign of our magazine. We wanted to build on our new brand and create something that marked a fresh direction, while bringing along our existing audience. The company’s experience in the charity membership sector was invaluable and allowed us to work together to create a design that the charity and – most importantly - our members really like.

Greg Cranness, membership manager
National Autistic Society

Other projects