Creating a visual identity for #FutureBarnardos
#FutureBarnardos is the digital transformation team at Barnardo’s. We work within the wider organisation to build stronger families, safer childhoods, and positive futures for children, young people, carers and families.
The work we do is transformative and diverse, and is carried out by eight different teams. Over time, it’s become clear to us that what we need to bring these teams together is consistency in the work we share amongst ourselves, with the wider organisation, and externally.
We need one overarching #FutureBarnardos visual identity that ties together all the work we do, and drives transformative change across the organisation.
What is a visual identity?
A successful visual identity shows a brand’s personality and purpose. Similar to a book cover, a visual identity can dictate a user’s first impression of a brand.
It should provide a library of design assets and guidelines. These assets can include logos, fonts, colour schemes, imagery and iconography. Guidelines are provided to explain how to use these assets in different formats and ensure consistency throughout design. It needs to be timeless — capable of being applied to any projects going forward.
The premise of the #FutureBarnardos visual identity was that it needed to be different. We had to take forward the best of what had been done in the past into a new digital future, whilst remaining true to Barnardo’s primary brand.
“We will increase our efficiency and effectiveness alongside our journey to become a genuinely digital, diverse and learning organisation.”
The challenge of ‘future’ design
The first and most important challenge we faced was that a number of visual styles had been created by different freelance designers since the start of the transformation. This gave the impression of incoherence, and did not present us in the innovative light in which we wanted to be seen. We needed to rework these existing styles, and the main task was to combine and condense them into one consistent and fluid style.
One example of these inconsistencies was the #FutureBarnardos logo. There were multiple versions of the logo with different fonts and grammar. We needed to look at these, and create one official logo that could work across different formats. We also needed to provide guidelines so that anyone in the #FutureBarnardos team would know how to use the logo correctly.
Another example is the Barnardo’s Design System, created in 2018 by Kellie Matheson and Richard Hallows. The system already had a set colour palette and scale that had been successfully tested and was being used online. We applied the scale to the #FutureBarnardos visual identity, creating different approved colour combinations.
This helped to future proof the identity because it gave us a wider colour palette to choose from, meaning different colours could be used across multiple projects over time.
Other style considerations
Barnardo’s is piloting the use of Google’s G Suite, so we are creating reusable assets that work for everyone. We created a template presentation deck in Google Slides that was easy for everyone to use and populate with their own content.
“As a busy researcher, I am often working remotely and have to make presentations several times a month, so having the #FutureBarnardos template that Amy has made has been a real asset. The fact that it has several layout options is great for variety and keeping audiences engaged in research findings.
It has meant that I can spend less time finessing the look of my presentations, leaving me more time to develop the content quality, and it means there is a uniformed, polished look to my research presentations.”
Sohila Sawhney — Barnardo’s Research and Evaluation Lead
#FutureBarnardos is made up of eight teams, which in turn create multiple projects, and have different design needs. Limited design assets meant it was hard to tell the difference between different bodies of work. The visual identity needed to be flexible to incorporate these needs. We were able to overcome this by introducing a wider library of assets; including the secondary colour palette, use of circles and a new suite of icons.
The result
We wanted to design an identity that would showcase our work. It needed to have a fresh, modern feel, but at the same time it needed to be accessible. Our work in Barnardo’s is so important, it has to be presented in the most professional and engaging way to ensure that the message is fully conveyed.
Fonts
We made the decision to have two fonts as part of the #FutureBarnardos visual identity; Proxima Nova and Caveat. Proxima Nova should be used as the primary typeface. It’s a sans serif font that ensures user accessibility, especially when used online.
“Above all, avoid decorative or overly stylized fonts, which are often difficult to read even for users without visual impairments or reading disabilities.”
Caveat is the secondary typeface, which should be used for quotes and smaller, digestible pieces of information. It was chosen as it has a handwritten, childlike style, meaning it would work as a good alternative when working with children and young people. For example, when quoting what a child has said in a presentation, the chosen font helps to reflect their voice.
Icons
We designed a suite of icons with a simple and legible style. They can be used in presentations, posters and videos where an idea needs to be condensed into a simpler format. The examples below show icons including housing, family and user. As we continue our work and more icons are needed, they can be created following this basic outline style.
Illustrations
It was important that the style of illustrations we designed were clear and easy for the user to understand. For illustrations that will be used to communicate with children and young people, we used simple shapes and engaging colours.
Characters should be inclusive and show a wide range of diversity, to match our wider approach of making sure equality diversity and inclusion runs through everything we do.
Video
With digital and social becoming an increasingly popular way for us to talk about the transformation, we also needed to consider how the identity could be applied to video. The use of static circles in print could be adapted and animated in video, and gave us an engaging style that we can push and explore in the future.
Next steps for visual identity
All of these assets are available in a library. Alongside these, there are guidelines which explain how and when to use them. They also include instructions on photography, layout, posters, and videos.
You can view the latest version of the #FutureBarnardos brand guidelines here, and the presentation template here. If you need any help applying the visual identity to your work, please don’t hesitate to get in touch: amy.steyaert@barnardos.org.uk.
It’s important to recognise that the process of designing a visual identity for #FutureBarnardos is still not complete — it’s a constantly evolving journey. As we create new pieces of work, we will discover new needs and challenges. We are still learning and iterating.
Amy is a Visual Designer in the #FutureBarnardos transformation team.
We’re also grateful for the input and support from designer Aimee Capstick on this body of work.
To get the latest updates from the #FutureBarnardos transformation team, subscribe to blog.barnar.do on Medium, and follow #FutureBarnardos on Twitter.
