The Wandle River Park

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Some projects start with a brief.

This one started with a walk.

I live locally and spend a lot of time walking along the River Wandle and through its surrounding green spaces. It’s one of those places that feels surprisingly removed from London — quiet paths following the water, little bridges, trees and reflections, fishermen along the riverbank, dog walkers, families and people simply enjoying some peace.

And then there’s the wildlife. Herons standing almost motionless by the water. Ducks and moorhens. Parakeets, doves and kingfishers if you’re lucky. Foxes appearing between the trees. Every walk seems to reveal something slightly different.

What struck me was that people clearly love this place, but it doesn’t really have a strong, consistent identity of its own.

A personal project for the neighbourhood

This isn’t a commercial commission. It’s a personal project for a place that probably doesn’t have the resources to commission an extensive branding programme or digital design system.

So I started thinking: what if good design could simply be offered back to the community?

I began by developing a refreshed identity around the things that make the Wandle recognisable — the shape and movement of the river, its wildlife and vegetation. The heron and kingfisher became natural characters within the system, supported by river blues, greens and small flashes of kingfisher orange.

From there, the logo grew into a deliberately simple design system: typography, colours, icons, photography, illustration, signage and reusable layouts.

The simplicity is important.

Rather than creating something that requires a professional designer every time it is used, the system could give local groups and volunteers the basic building blocks to create their own posters, event notices, conservation information, walking guides, signs and social posts while still feeling like they belong to the same place.

Extending the identity into digital

I also explored how the identity might work as a website and mobile experience.

Imagine arriving at the Wandle and opening a simple map showing the paths ahead. You could choose a walk, discover interesting wildlife nearby, learn about a historic location, find a fishing spot, join a guided walk or see that volunteers are meeting on Saturday morning to clean a section of the river.

Technology shouldn't become the reason to visit. It should quietly help you experience the real place.

It could also make community participation much easier — announcing clean-up days, wildlife walks, local gatherings, volunteering opportunities or simply letting people know what is happening along their part of the river.

Designing something people can make their own

The goal isn't to make the Wandle feel bigger, busier or more commercial.

Quite the opposite.

Part of its beauty is that it remains a wonderfully peaceful local gem — somewhere you can walk beside the water and briefly forget how close you are to the rest of London.

The purpose of the identity is simply to make that place a little more recognisable and its community a little more connected.

A logo becomes signage. Signage becomes a walking guide. The guide becomes a digital map. The map leads to an event. An event brings together volunteers. And those volunteers help protect the river that inspired the identity in the first place.

That, to me, is where branding, product design and community can genuinely meet.

Wandle River ParkExplore. Discover. Protect.Nature today. Thriving tomorrow.