Design challenge

ACEVO provide support to civil society leaders. They were aware of a distinct need to modernise their brand, as the previous iteration had been around for many years and was considered unsuitable for their modern needs. In many ways it did not reflect their values.

New designs were needed to demonstrate their ambition and to better facilitate the delivery of their services. First and foremost they wanted it to be bold, energetic and vibrant, reflecting the direction their positioning and offering was heading.

Mark took the time to really understand the brief, meet different team members and propose new ideas.”

Our solution

We set out to create a new brand style that was distinctly bold and new, but still recognising their past (30 years).

To help this we kept the existing logo, making a few adjustments for an evolution. This modernised it, making it more legible and friendly, whilst keeping the new brand rooted in their heritage.

To build on the logo update, we developed a fresh new look for their visual styling. This included a completely new, strong colour scheme of mint and dark blue (previously deep reds, which felt dark and clinical), as well as selecting a more unique display font to add depth.

The design style was then paired with an element of verbal branding – a range impactful typographic statements. The aim of these was to create a more humanised feel and accentuate the supportive and collaborative nature at the heart of ACEVO’s offering. We wanted to encourage people to think or feel something, rather than just have nice ‘passive’ brand graphics.

To provide contrast when it all comes together, the typographic statements are supported by photos of real people (ACEVO members and staff), creating a bold type-plus-photography combination.

In parallel to the brand project we undertook a redesign of their website, integrating the new brand style from the ground up whilst doing so.

acevo.org.uk