OUR BRANDING STORY

How Lorne Street Primary School pupils helped us create our brand

It was back in November 2021, when Di Gilpin, Founder and CEO of Smart Green Shipping (SGS), was in Glasgow for COP26, that she first met pupils of Lorne Street Primary School, Govan. The Malin Group hosted several events highlighting the fears and aspirations of young people at their South Rotunda HQ on the River Clyde. Lorne Street Primary participated in lively debates and workshops, clearly demonstrating they were a dynamic next generation of pioneers, entrepreneurs, and creators. 

Di was on a clear path to tackle climate change by delivering FastRigs, a retrofittable solution to help decarbonise the shipping sector by harnessing the power of wind. In the two years since COP26 Di, along with industry collaborators and investors, the dedicated team at SGS designed, created, and produced the first FastRig - our lightweight, data-driven,wing-sail solution for global shipping. The prototype test FastRig is to be installed at Hunterston Parc on the Firth of Clyde, Scotland, for land-based safety, technical, and performance testing.

Lorne Street Primary School came to mind when the SGS team began thinking about our new branding. We are, after all, working for future generations; these talented young people are clearly motivated to drive change – we wanted to harness that creativity, so we invited the pupils to work on designing the graphics for our very first FastRig.

With the help of Helenor Fisher, Director of Marketing and Business Development at the Malin Group, Robin Clarke and the graphic design team at iDEA, Lorne Street Primary School P2’s embarked on a painting session like no other - to design the graphic for our FastRig that would also be used in our rebranding.

Following a class session with Helenor and Isla Valenti, SGS’s Organisational Services Manager where they explained what a FastRig is, where it is being made, how it will be fitted, how it tackles climate change, and how we wanted them to be part of designing the artwork. The pupils then began freely painting brushstrokes in our corporate colours, using the movement of the wind and the sea as inspiration.  

The resulting artwork was fabulous and was the perfect inspiration for our new graphic design artwork – based fully on the children’s vision. We will unveil the prototype FastRig in December. The powerful graphics represent our hope for the future, cross-sector, cross-generational collaboration, and the power of wind.

We are thrilled with the results, and our heartfelt thanks go to all at Lorne Street Primary School for their willing participation and enthusiastic creativity. We look forward to working with you again soon.