Drosos Foundation envisions a world where all young people have the opportunity to realise their full potential and collectively contribute to a more equitable, sustainable, peaceful, and just society. We partnered with them to create a brand and website that brings this vision to life.
A nurturing website and brand refresh for Drosos Foundation
Since its Swiss beginnings in 2003, Drosos Foundation has touched the lives of young people across the globe. As its work expanded throughout Egypt, Europe, the Levant and the Maghreb, it became clear that the existing identity no longer captured the scale of their impact or the deeply human nature of their mission. With their 20th anniversary on the horizon, the time was right to reshape their identity to better reflect the organisation they had become.
During our discovery phase – through research, interviews and workshops – a powerful set of themes emerged, anchored around ideas of cultivation, nourishment and growth. The Drosos team spoke poetically about the long-term impact of their programmes, describing how they plant the seeds that allow young people’s futures to flourish.
Inspired by these insights, we developed the core brand idea: Seeds of Change. Together with the Drosos team, we explored how to express this idea visually and conceptually, diving into botanical history. The rich cultural significance of the fig – one of the earliest cultivated fruits – became a guiding symbol, shaping a flowing, organic, fig-like “D” at the heart of the identity.
While the new brand needed the warmth and universality to resonate globally, it was equally important to honour Drosos’ heritage. The final identity blends this global appeal with the clarity and elegance of Swiss design principles, creating a brand that reflects both where Drosos comes from and the future they’re helping young people grow towards.
Over the past years, Drosos Foundation has gone through a significant transformation. Through a thoughtful brand discovery and creative direction process, we were able to translate that evolution into a clear and authentic identity.
It was essential that the new brand and website be practical for a small team to maintain, while also being futureproof and scalable. Our refined design approach – minimal, thoughtful and centred on content – was shaped with these needs in mind.
With a deep, rich fig colour leading the way, the secondary colour palette is inspired by the stages of growth, providing a joyful range of positive but natural tones that work in harmony together. While core materials are intentionally understated, this expanded palette brings the flexibility needed for the website, longer-form communications and the illustration style.
Illustration plays a key role, especially where subjects are broad or abstract and not easily represented through a single photograph. Serene landscapes and moments of gradual growth depict the journey of the organisation, as well as the young people that their work is ultimately for.
Putting young people’s voices at the centre – and ensuring inclusivity and accessibility – was a critical priority for the Foundation. This guided our approach to imagery. The photographic art direction builds on Drosos’ own work, focusing on warm, honest and authentic photographs that foreground young people in ways that feel natural and comfortable for them.
Designing the new website for the Drosos Foundation was an exciting opportunity to blend precision with personality. Again inspired by Swiss design principles, the layout prioritises clarity, grid-based structure and typographic hierarchy – ensuring content is accessible and easy to navigate. We also supported Drosos with copywriting and integrated OpenAI-powered multilingual translation, providing an efficient and cost-effective way to produce content across multiple languages.
The application of the brand’s earthy, grounded colour palette gave the UI design a sense of warmth and authenticity, becoming uniquely Drosos and supporting the Foundation’s human centred mission. The result is a site that balances modernity with warmth – elegant, intuitive and full of character.
Drosos’ 20th-anniversary event provided the ideal moment to unveil the renewed brand. Working closely with their team, we developed an overarching theme that unified all creative elements and produced a suite of assets, from an interactive timeline to sit on the wall to a beautiful set of take-home postcards.
By listening and asking the right questions, Soapbox helped us distil the essence of who we are and what we want to stand for. The result is a brand and website that feel clear, authentic, modern and well aligned with our values.
The renewed identity and website give Drosos a clearer, more authentic platform for the work ahead. Huge thanks to the Drosos team for their trust and collaboration. We’re excited to watch the Foundation write their next chapter – and the many young people who will continue to transform their lives and the life of others.
