Process — FISWWAG · 2026
One identity,
made for the field.
A process-led look at how a 16-page brand system for a federation of informal waste workers moved from interviews to a guide people could actually use.
The brief
FISWWAG represents informal waste workers across Ghana. The identity had to work in a national office, a regional meeting and a member's ID card — often printed quickly, handled roughly and read by people with different levels of literacy.
The brief was not “make us look bigger.” It was: make one system that many hands can use without breaking its meaning. That changed every decision, from the mark to the amount of guidance on each page.
The process
Four decisions, in order.
The work moved from listening to making, with each decision tested against the same question: can someone else use this without me in the room?
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01
Listen for the real constraint.
Conversations with the federation focused on how the identity would travel: regional chapters, member IDs, letterheads, training materials and print shops with limited colour control. The constraint was not ambition — it was consistency across many hands.
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02
Find one idea that can carry the room.
The raised-hands mark came from the work itself: collective effort, visibility and representation. It is simple enough to reproduce on a badge, a banner or a photocopy, and specific enough to belong to FISWWAG rather than any generic NGO.
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03
Build the system, not just the logo.
A confident green palette, Inter typography and a small set of layout rules were documented with clearspace, misuse examples, stationery, ID cards and mockups. The guide explains the decisions, so a regional officer can make a new piece without guessing.
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04
Hand over something that survives.
The final 16-page guide is practical by design: print-ready files, a page for each application, and rules written in plain language. The measure of the work is not the cover image — it is whether the next poster, badge or letterhead still looks like FISWWAG.
From the guide
The system in use.
Three spreads from the finished guide: the mark, the applications and the rules that keep the identity consistent.
Have a similar problem?
Bring the brief. I’ll bring the process.
If your organisation needs an identity that survives real use, tell me what it has to do and who has to use it.