ALNF – Literacy is Freedom

As a charity prioritising their work in the community, ALNF’s brand identity and website had remained unchanged for many years, and did not reflect their passion, creativity or skill in the education sphere. Their closest competitor looked similar enough to be confusing to potential donors, and limited program information on the site meant ALNF were fielding many phone calls and email enquiries, which was impacting their finite resources. We needed to take the dynamism and energy ALNF has, and infuse this into their digital experience, to better reflect their mission and impact, and create an efficient tool for their promotion.

The brand idea of ‘embrace possibility’ highlights how literacy liberates people from the things that can hold them back, celebrated in the manifesto video we crafted for the homepage. Founders Grotesk, from NZ’s Klim Type, was selected as the primary typeface - a contemporary, distinctive choice, which gives just the right amount of personality to the website, with secondary type Suisse Int’l bringing objectivity to the content. By infusing the main nav and footer with the brand’s energetic colour palette, sprinkling positive copy lines throughout, and heroing uplifting imagery, the design solution reflects ALNF’s eternal optimism & creative approach to learning.

It’s not just a digital platform—it’s a celebration of the organisation’s mission. Balancing accessibility and delightful moments of interactivity, the site becomes a powerful tool for advocacy, education, and unlocking opportunities for all Australians. It delivers a powerful brand presence, building brand equity and creating a strong brand in potential donors and ambassadors minds, as well as aiding funding applications. Societally, we are truly making the world a better place. Literacy is a basic human right, but one so many take for granted. ALNF breaks the cycle of illiteracy and empowers the next generation to write their own story.

Our creative brand idea of “embrace possibility” led us down a path of thinking about how everyone - whoever they are, wherever they come from - has a unique learning curve which will lead them to their potential. This idea plays a role in the footer of the website, with a fun, interactive cursor that traces the user’s curve. Hover effects throughout the site display CTAs that are randomised in the CMS in terms of the colour they display from the brand palette, giving a fun and creative vibe. Animations and page transitions are playful but not distracting, and the page load speed has been optimised to ensure we don’t lose people in those crucial milliseconds. Ambassadors play a vital role in the success of ALNF, spreading the word about their important work. We wanted the website to really celebrate them. Portrait tiles feature the incredible photography by Hannah Scott-Stevenson, Jo Duck, Simon Eeles and Mason Stevenson, and once a user selects an ambassador, an overlay slides out, sharing their connection to ALNF. The site was also recognised globally as a highly coveted Awwwards Site of the Day.