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Hey, I'm Danyal Redwan, Creative Director of Wherefore. This year Wherefore was recognised as a Company of Good for 2025 to 2027 by the National Volunteer & Philanthropy Centre (NVPC), Singapore's national recognition for businesses that put purpose into practice. I want to use this moment to write down something we rarely say out loud: creating a difference has been our core motivator since the beginning, and this recognition matters to us because of that, not because of the badge.
A name that starts with why
Wherefore is an old word. It means "for what reason". We chose it because every brand we build starts with that question, and because it is the question we kept asking about our own company. Why does a studio exist? Not to make things look nice. Plenty of people can do that. We wanted to exist for the work that changes how an organisation is understood, who it can reach, and what it can do for the people who depend on it.
That sounds grand for a branding agency in Singapore, so let me put it plainly. We believe a brand is one of the few tools that can make good work visible. A charity with a clear story raises support more easily. A self-help group that people understand gets asked for help by the families who need it. A foundation that says one thing well can bring a whole sector into the same room. When the brand is right, the difference the organisation makes travels further. That is the part of our job we care about most.
What Company of Good recognises
Company of Good is NVPC's national recognition for organisations with a clear corporate purpose. It looks at how a business turns that purpose into practice across five areas: its people, society, governance, the environment and the economy. Recognised companies join a community of businesses across Singapore working to do right, do good and do well.
What I like about the framework is that it does not treat purpose as a slogan. It asks what you actually do, for whom, and whether it holds up across the whole business. That is the same standard we hold our clients' brands to. A purpose statement on its own changes nothing. It only means something when it shows up in decisions, behaviour and work.
What creating a difference looks like in our work
I would rather show this than claim it. Some of the projects we are proudest of are the ones where the brand work served something bigger than a logo.
For the Chinese Development Assistance Council (CDAC), people understood the programmes but not what they did to a life. So we told the story through one child, Clara, and what her family's evenings looked like before and after support. The organisation became the cause of the change rather than the subject of the story. When CDAC's team told us the result felt warm, sincere and true to them, that was the standard we were aiming for.
With Red Cross Singapore, the challenge was scale. When suffering is too large, people feel powerless rather than moved. We built the work around one Ukrainian musician and his performance with the Esplanade, and let the act of giving follow naturally from a person sharing his grief.
For the DBS Foundation Impact Beyond Summit, the idea was to reframe ageing as an opportunity for contribution and growth rather than a problem to manage, and to carry that one idea through every touchpoint of the event.
And with the Nations Cup, a rebrand built on what the tournament truly meant helped grow attendance by 33%, from 9,000 to 12,000, and brought younger fans to a sport that deserves them.
None of these were charity projects for us. They were the work. But in each one, the brand made someone's good work easier to see, understand and support. That is the difference we mean.
Purpose inside a small studio
Purpose is easy to talk about when it faces outward. It is harder when it faces in. For a studio our size, it shows up in small, practical choices: the clients we say yes to, how honestly we tell them when a brief needs rethinking, how we treat the people on our team across Singapore, Indonesia and Thailand, and whether we explain our thinking so clients can carry it on without us.
We also try to make our knowledge useful beyond our clients. Our guides, like how a non-profit should approach branding, exist because many organisations doing important work cannot afford an agency, and they still deserve to understand how a brand can help them.
What this recognition changes, and what it does not
Being named a Company of Good does not make our work better on its own. What it does is hold us to something. It is a public marker that we have said purpose matters to us, and that we are willing to be measured on it. I would rather have that pressure than not.
It also tells the organisations we work with something useful. If you come to us with work that matters, you are not just a client to us. Helping you be understood is the reason we started.
What comes next
We will keep doing what got us here: starting every brand with why, taking on work that makes a real difference, and telling the truth about what a brand can and cannot do. Over the next two years, we want to deepen our work with organisations in the social and public sector, and keep sharing what we learn openly.
Thank you to NVPC for the recognition, to our clients for trusting us with work that matters, and to our team for caring about the difference as much as the design. You can learn more about the programme at thecompanyofgood.sg.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Company of Good?
Company of Good is Singapore's national recognition for organisations committed to a clear corporate purpose and positive impact. It is run by the National Volunteer & Philanthropy Centre (NVPC) and looks at how a business puts purpose into practice for its people, society, governance, the environment and the economy.
Who gives the Company of Good recognition?
The National Volunteer & Philanthropy Centre (NVPC) in Singapore. Wherefore is recognised as a Company of Good for 2025 to 2027.
What does it mean for organisations that work with Wherefore?
It means you are working with a branding agency in Singapore that treats purpose as a working standard, not a tagline. We bring the same questions to your brand that the recognition asks of us: what is the purpose, who does it serve, and does it show up in the work.
Does Wherefore work with non-profits and social organisations?
Yes. Our work includes CDAC, Red Cross Singapore and the DBS Foundation, alongside corporate and institutional brands. Much of our rebranding and brand strategy work is about making an organisation's impact easier to understand.
Doing work that should be better understood?
If your organisation is creating a difference and your brand is not yet showing it, we would like to hear from you. Tell us about your project, email hello@wherefore.sg, or call +65 9682 2699.
