Author: Kevin Trickett

Wakefield Civic Society has today launched a new brand designed by Wakefield design agency, Rhubarb Design House.

The new brand which will appear on all the Society’s new publications, and correspondence as well as on-line, was created as part of partnership arrangement agreed with the agency, one of the Society’s new corporate members.

Speaking about the new brand, Society president Kevin Trickett said “When I was first elected as president in 2002, the Society spent some time thinking about what it did and how we could promote that to the public. We devised a brand for the Society which has served us well but it was beginning to look a bit stale and it needed updating so I was delighted when Rhubarb Design House first approached us with their offer and we are very pleased with the result. We have just updated our website and also launched a new Instagram account so the new brand will be found across all our sites, including Facebook and Twitter, as well as in our printed material. It’s really important for the Society to maintain a public profile that reflects the wide range of things we do and the interests we have.”

Rhubarb Design Agency was founded by Alex McIntosh and James Lodge and is based at The Art House on Drury Lane, Wakefield.

Alex and James have both lived in Wakefield nearly all their lives. James explained “We have always been captivated by both the history and development of our wonderful city. We first encountered Kevin, and his passion for the city, on an Art Walk several years ago. Since then, it has always been in the back of our minds that we would one day like to join the society and have a hand in shaping the future of Wakefield.

“We launched our new design studio in the city last year and this seemed like the perfect time to join the society as corporate members and offer our design expertise. We were keen to help raise the profile of Wakefield Civic Society, as we are conscious that not everyone in the city is aware of who they are and what they do. They are a vital part in helping the city develop, which is something we both feel very passionate about.

“Late last year we broached the subject of a rebrand with the idea of creating a new logo which better reflected the society. Whilst the previous logo had sentimental meaning (being based on one of the Society’s first ever restoration projects from the 1960s), it wasn’t obviously recognisable and didn’t really reflect the work of the Society as a whole.

“The new logo aims to show the varied role that the society plays in the city. The shield shape hints at tradition, whereas the contemporary illustration style is clean and ensures the logo stands out, especially in digital formats. We are absolutely thrilled with the outcome and hope that the new branding gains more exposure for the society and ultimately helps them attract new members!”

For more information about Rhubarb Design House, have a look at their website.

March 2020

The Society today welcomes Architecture 1B as one of its growing band of corporate members.

Architecture 1B is a small bespoke architectural practice based in Horbury. The company was formed at the end of 2012 by Darren Bailey who has over 20 years’ experience and has worked at some of the North’s largest architectural practices delivering projects of varying scale and sectors, such as Headingley cricket ground and central square in Newcastle. In 2003 Darren was a founding member of Leeds based practice architecture 2B alongside Nick Brown which was commended with various awards.

Wakefield Civic Society president Kevin Trickett MBE said “We are delighted to welcome Darren as a corporate member. Darren has worked with us before and has from time to time turned to us on behalf of his clients for our thoughts on projects he has been working on in Wakefield, a really good example of how developers and their architects and designers can work co-operatively with civic societies. Not only is he helping to bring some exciting new projects to our area but, in becoming a corporate member of the Society, he is showing support for what we do as a community organisation.”

The Society offers three categories of Corporate Membership, details of which can be found here.

January 2020

Wakefield Civic Society has been invited to join Wakefield’s newly established Town Deal Board. The Board, part of Wakefield’s High Street Task Force, is made up of representatives from Wakefield’s public, private and third sector organisations and will support Wakefield Council as it develops a strategy to facilitate revitalisation of the city centre. The Board will also assist the council in attracting new inward investment, including grant applications under the Future High Streets Fund, Heritage Action Zone and Towns Fund initiatives.

The Board will oversee the development and subsequent implementation of a city centre masterplan while ensuring a diverse range of voices and perspectives are fed into the discussions.

Wakefield Civic Society president Kevin Trickett MBE, who will represent the Society on the Board, said that he was delighted to take part and considered that the invitation extended to the Society was a tribute to the Society’s reputation for being a knowledgeable and constructive contributor to the ongoing discussions about how the city centre should develop. He added “The Society was established in 1964 and has been actively engaged in many of the debates about what should happen in Wakefield ever since. We recognise that cities have to evolve to take account of changing lifestyles and that we have to move with the times, but we also recognise that Wakefield has a fine range of historic buildings which we wish to see preserved even though they will often have to find new uses to meet the challenges of a modern city centre.”