Building a brand for the UK’s first LGBTQ+ affirming housing association

There are over a million LGBTQ+ people over the age of 55 living in the UK. 

Despite this there is a distinct lack of care homes or housing providers who prioritise the needs of this community. 

Tonic was set up to address this societal challenge, envisioning a world in which no-one should ever have to go ‘back in the closet’ or feel unsafe in the place they live. 

Having formed both a charity and a CIC (community interest company), Tonic approached Pollitt & Partners to help work out their brand narrative, architecture, and visual identity. 

Collaborating with both the Trustees, and newly appointed CEO Anna Kear, we set about uncovering Tonic’s core vision and values through a co-creation workshop.

During these workshops we explored themes such as the dread people feel when approaching old age, especially when lacking an appropriate support structure; we looked at the specific challenges faced by LGBTQ+ people, and how Tonic could start to address these; and we looked at the joy and celebration associated with events like Pride.

The brand strategy began to form around the idea that we wanted to celebrate getting older, and encourage people to live their lives openly and honestly – whilst working hard to ensure they had the safety and security to do so in their later years. 

This also involved shifting Tonic’s focus on older LGBTQ+ people as the ‘victims’ who we should feel sorry for, to the heroes: our elders and a generation of pioneers, with rich stories to tell. 

We defined a core brand idea ‘This is how we live our lives out’ which balanced the joy of living openly, with the idea of celebrating your later years right up to the very end – something many older people lean into, yet younger adults shy away from.

From the brand idea we developed a fresh new look for Tonic, celebrating diversity with a flexible, animated font that varied in weight. In parallel we chose to keep a bright, uplifting colour palette, whilst being careful not to emulate the Pride flag too closely – due to its overuse by corporate sponsors in recent years. 

The result was a compelling new look and narrative for Tonic, a strong sense of the themes the brand was built around, and a platform for success. 

As of 2021 Tonic have secured a £5.7 million Community Housing Fund loan from the Mayor of London, and are due to start selling their first shared ownership apartments later this year.

https://www.tonichousing.org.uk/