Fundraising Event Design – The Big Rugby Run
As a graphic designer it is good to be part of fundraising event design projects. We often get caught up in everyday issues, so to break away from and produce graphic design for good causes is beneficial for everyone. I was fortunate to be involved in the Big Rugby Run. This was a wonderful initiative from PSA Academies. This event invited rugby teams in Ireland to run a virtual relay and raise money for Feed the Heroes. Feed the Heroes provides essential meals to the frontline medical staff fighting the COVID-19 pandemic.
In 5 weeks, the Big Rugby Run managed to get 115 teams registered and hundreds of rugby players involved. To date, the fundraising event has raised a staggering €30,000.
High Profile Partners
As part of the event, the Big Rugby Run team attracted some big named partners. StatSports, McDonalds, The Curragh Racecourse and the Aviva Stadium all donated prizes. The prizes were used for a draw to provide an extra incentive to the rugby clubs. The draw also offered an opportunity for many other organisations, including PSA Academies to get their name in front of the clubs and their players.
Fundraising Event Pack and Logo Design
The first task was to design a simple logo. The Big Rugby Run logo uses a clear sans serif font with some added texture to imply movement. As this is aimed at a rugby audience, the typography puts emphasis on the BIG and Run to put the task beyond doubt. The rugby ball provides a little touch to help soften the overall impact. We added the hashtag below the logo as a way to bring the content together across all platforms.
The design style used a textured background as a visual tool to bring all the elements together. This too helped to provide movement in the design. We used real rugby players from the PSA Academies, giving them a simple monotone feel. Utilising a limited colour pallet helped focus attention on the content and not overwhelm the reader. It also helps imply a disposability to the design as this is a one-off event. It also allows us the opportunity to in the future to change the colour scheme to help differentiate the event from year to year.
Social Media Support
In order to promote the event in such a short timescale, they relied heavily on social media. In order to give confidence to those considering participating we made sure all social media elements reflected the design style. Using the background as a template, the Big Rugby Run team were able to produce their own social media graphics on the fly, but keep them consistent with the main elements.
Fundraising Event Design Icons
In order help the visual communication of the fundraising event design, we designed some simple icons. These were used as a way to highlight the process and break up the explanatory text. Icons such as these are a great way to distill important information helping the overall communication.
If you have a similar project for a charity or non-profit organisation, then please do get in touch. These projects are always welcome and discounts will be given to those wanting to promote a worthy cause. Recent projects include helping the Zoological Society of East Anglia fund-raising, helping Stowmarket ASD Saturday Clubs with a website and supporting the John Peel Centre with their graphics.