Homeless SMS is a London-based social venture that provides mobile tools to help homeless people access local services. It launched a Twitter-SMS project in 2010 to send information on meals, classes, and social events to reduce isolation. They are now rolling out an expanded service called URmsg to connect homeless individuals to relevant opportunities and support through SMS. They need branding materials developed for URmsg, including a logo, visual identity, sign-up process, and instructional materials, to help promote adoption of the service across homeless shelters and centers.

1. Homeless SMS Brief
Background
www.homelesssms.com
Started in 2010, Homeless SMS is a young, innovative, London based digital social
venture providing homeless people with free-to-use mobile tools to help them find
and access relevant services in their area.
Homeless SMS’s mission is to encourage homeless people’s social and psychological
re-integration with society by helping them to stay in touch with useful and relevant
opportunities
Their twitter-sms project is the first in a series of mobile developments aimed at
helping the homeless. It enables the homeless to receive timely information of their
choice around issues ranging from where to find free meals to skills courses, and
even social events where they can meet others in a non-homeless context. This
keeps them in touch and reduces the risk of isolation and drink and drug abuse.
Moving forward
The team have performed a successful proof of concept for several months and are
now rolling the service out inside the UKs largest homeless day centre, The
Connection at St Martin in the Fields, London.
The brief for Good for Nothing
Visual identity and communications materials for new homeless service - URmsg
Homeless SMS was a working title and is not considered suitable for the
organisation as it grows. The team’s primary concern is that people with no fixed
address do not like being labelled homeless, whether they are part of the rough
sleeping minority or the hostel or ‘sofa surfing’ majority. Beyond this SMS is
considered limiting given the need to develop and grow the service as technologies
shift. As a result the current roll-out begun on 9 Jan, is under the name URmsg
(Your Message). Very little has been done in the way of visual identity.
There are several issues to tackle:
1. Is the service name Your Message or URmsg? Currently the twitter accounts
used follow the URmsg[TOPIC] format (e.g. URmsgTIPS) but that does not
mean the service has to be called URmsg or be in that capital/lower case
format.

2. 2. Visual identity and style for the service (needs to be
simple/clear/engaging/non-corporate/non-threatening, not too techy),
including logo, colour scheme, graphics etc.
3. Create visual icons for each account, i.e. URmsg_TIPS (See additional doc
titled ‘URmsg accounts’ for names of each one)
4. Design a step by step sign-up process graphically that requires little or no
text (high levels of illiteracy)
(See additional doc titled ‘URmsg process’)
5. Simple visual instructions on how to create and manipulate twitter accounts
through SMS (i.e. follow/stop/interact/tweet/reply etc.) See
https://support.twitter.com/articles/14589 for guide
6. Design an information handout to be distributed at homeless centres,
hostels and shelters (fold-out/concertina) including step by step process
graphic, different accounts & descriptions and reason for service
If the instructions are easy to follow and share then they could make a big difference
in service adoption across the homeless community.
What we have to work with
Overview video of the full service:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKkNBOFyolM
(NB: this video has more functionality that we would like everyone to think about at this stage.
The messages coming from users is much more complicated to explain and is viewed as a
phase 2 of the project. Initially we would like to focus more on the attached PDFs. This is the
outbound message channels that users can 'follow' to receive specific updates.)
Testimonials of people using the service:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sl313uhloTE&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Ix1XDSpfsg&feature=related
Current website: http://www.homelesssms.com/
Contact details: Will Brayne
willbrayne@gmail.com