CIWM (Chartered Institution of Wastes Management) is the leading professional body for individuals in the resource and waste management sector. Through training, accreditation, insight and advocacy, they support a thriving professional community working to move the world beyond waste.
CIWM engaged Barley to refresh their brand identity in light of their 125th anniversary — a milestone that marked an opportunity to evolve their visual and verbal presence while staying rooted in their legacy.
The project
The creative concept, Legacy of Leadership: Honouring the Past, Powering the Future, brings together CIWM’s heritage with a bold, future-facing identity. Amy developed a watermark device, derived from the organisation’s historic crest, to subtly reinforce its long-standing authority. This element adds quiet character and a sense of continuity across brand materials.
A key feature of the identity is the Ever-Adapting Grid — a visible horizontal and vertical axis system that provides structure, flexibility, and visual clarity. The grid reflects CIWM’s adaptable and evolving nature, while its intersecting point creates a natural focal area to draw attention to key content and calls to action.
Alongside this, Amy delivered a vibrant, accessible colour palette, a clean typographic system using Satoshi and Geist, and refined messaging that captures CIWM’s tone of voice and values — collaboration, creativity, adaptation, determination, and consideration.
The result is a cohesive and future-ready identity that celebrates CIWM’s legacy while empowering the organisation to connect, lead, and inspire the global resource and waste management community.