It’s been a whirlwind few months at MensCraft. In December, it became clear that our tenure at the Maddermarket was coming to an end, whether we liked it or not (we did not). Fate (and a lot of hard graft from our Chief Exec) intervened in the form of 35 Bishopgate, former home of St Martin’s and owned by Places for People – a sprawling building that had sat vacant for years but offered us a tantalising glimpse of the future: multiple one-to-one therapeutic spaces; several large group activity rooms; and the possibility of a seat at a desk for everyone on busy office days. And all for a very agreeable annual rent.
The move, and subsequent work to make the building not just habitable but homely, has been a Herculean task, with colleagues going even further beyond the usual above-and-beyond to make it feel like a great place to be, whether as staff, a client or member. There is still lots to do, but in just a few short months it has been transformed from a damp and unloved space into a multi-purpose centre for men and boys. Watch this space for more about the building’s development. And don’t get too excited: that’s an AI-generated image – an aspiration for what it could become!
Throughout the move – since last August, in fact – we have been quietly tolling away behind the scenes on a new website and brand refresh. You’re looking at the fruits of that labour now. The brief was for something that felt softer – more earthy and natural. We’ve toned down the slightly alarming orange and introduced some nature-inspired greens. Stark white has been replaced by warmer neutrals. And yes, the logo (was it a boiled sweet in a wrapper? A Christmas cracker? Abstracted robotic hands meeting?) now looks a bit more like the opening box that it was always intended to be, whilst still feeling familiar. We also spent a lot of time thinking about the user experience and navigation. Hopefully we’ve succeeded in improving that, too.
Not all the pages are live yet and there are a few things to fix, but I hope anyone who visited the previous MensCraft website will think that this is a huge leap forward. Much like our new premises, it’s a solid foundation from which to grow. If you spot any bloopers or broken links, please email me and I sort them out ASAP. As always, more coming soon!