Webster Wickham
About Webster
Wickham
My partner’s father, Harry, had his kids in his fifties, bought the family car in his sixties, took his daughters proudly to university in his seventies, did DIY in his eighties, helped us clear ivy in his nineties, and died after playing with his first granddaughter in his mid-nineties. He was an inspiration.
People need a lot of things after they are 50 – to access health services and book a holiday, buy a new fridge and get cold weather allowance payments, book a trip online to take their grand kids to Legoland and buy some shoes for their 70 year-old feet to carry them around. Through Forster AGEncy we want to design and deliver communications that meet these challenges. People in this wide age grouping have lived through many style and technological revolutions, know what they like and what doesn't work. They are a challenging and diverse audience but one that deserves to be spoken to properly.
I have led a creative team at bwa for 20 years, working on social change issues, from climate change to mental health. This work has to be multi-generational as the issues affect us all, but often older generations are not mentioned in the client briefs. We have actively made the communications accessible and relevant through practical issues such as size and legibility of text to using relevant communication channels and technology. Recently bwa completed two interesting projects aimed at engaging an older audience.
Get and grow is a dynamic campaign encouraging teenagers and the elderly to get together and grow food. Through a national network of community gardening projects based at care homes, the campaign will provide an opportunity for residents to regularly get involved in a more active way of life.
With basic Government services about to go online and much of the ageing population intimidated by the digital revolution, there’s a big problem looming. By staying offline many older people will find their lives changing for the worst, with increasing isolation, unpaid bills and diminished access to essential services. In an attempt to fix all that, bwa designed Footnote, a product that retro-fits an online help service to the internet.
I was told recently that 90% of people working in the design industry are under 40. So apparently I should be thinking of retiring – but I want to live a long productive life like Harry, designing for services and communications for our future selves.
My partner’s father, Harry, had his kids in his fifties, bought the family car in his sixties, took his daughters proudly to university in his seventies, did DIY in his eighties, helped us clear ivy in his nineties, and died after playing with his first granddaughter in his mid-nineties. He was an inspiration.
People need a lot of things after they are 50 – to access health services and book a holiday, buy a new fridge and get cold weather allowance payments, book a trip online to take their grand kids to Legoland and buy some shoes for their 70 year-old feet to carry them around. Through Forster AGEncy we want to design and deliver communications that meet these challenges. People in this wide age grouping have lived through many style and technological revolutions, know what they like and what doesn't work. They are a challenging and diverse audience but one that deserves to be spoken to properly.
I have led a creative team at bwa for 20 years, working on social change issues, from climate change to mental health. This work has to be multi-generational as the issues affect us all, but often older generations are not mentioned in the client briefs. We have actively made the communications accessible and relevant through practical issues such as size and legibility of text to using relevant communication channels and technology. Recently bwa completed two interesting projects aimed at engaging an older audience.
Get and grow is a dynamic campaign encouraging teenagers and the elderly to get together and grow food. Through a national network of community gardening projects based at care homes, the campaign will provide an opportunity for residents to regularly get involved in a more active way of life.
With basic Government services about to go online and much of the ageing population intimidated by the digital revolution, there’s a big problem looming. By staying offline many older people will find their lives changing for the worst, with increasing isolation, unpaid bills and diminished access to essential services. In an attempt to fix all that, bwa designed Footnote, a product that retro-fits an online help service to the internet.
I was told recently that 90% of people working in the design industry are under 40. So apparently I should be thinking of retiring – but I want to live a long productive life like Harry, designing for services and communications for our future selves.
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