Living Identity System
In 2021, Connect Northern Rivers was seeking to update their brand identity in an effort to move towards a brand that better reflected their role in community but also offered the potential for a more coherent and consistent brand communication strategy.
Our Approach
Agency in Design engaged Connect Northern Rivers in a comprehensive, visually based, respectful, co-Design process, to not only ensure that we crafted an identity system that was Connect and communicated and supported the work that they do, but the act of co-Design would help the organisation appreciate the skills, knowledge and creativity they possess, and recognise the relationships between these things. This is the foundation for the design of a Living Identity System.
A Living Identity System is how we at Agency in Design described a modern brand identity. A brand, and its outward facing communication, is not just designed to exist within a static context but is instead designed to live in a dynamic world of changing interfaces and moving patterns of interaction.
We began this process with a full brand audit, we refer to as an identity track, whereby we undertook visual review (reviewing the current visual identity and reflecting on previous iterations), a verbal review (reviewing the language used within reporting, documentation, and outbound communications), a behavioural review (reviewing strategy, values and directives) and a peer review (reviewing the brand identities of sector relevant organisations).
We then ran an in-person visual dialogue workshop, and then a few COVID driven impromptu online workshops to reveal what internal stakeholders saw Connect to be. We then crafted three (3) potential directions based on stakeholder contributions; communicating these in large format stylescapes which serve as visual encapsulations of a brand’s voice, tone, look, and feel filtered through three prompts to provide a spectrum of possibility.
In consultation with key stakeholders, over a six (6) week period we refined these three (3) directions testing against contextual applications (business cards, shirts, web, socials etc.), and with these thoroughly investigated, decided on a single direction with Connect Northern Rivers and began a process of further refinement. This included three (3) rounds of revision which will be held in concert with a whole of staff workshop and program based Indigenous Knowledge workshops. This process ensured the initial goal of this rebranding process can still be achieved, as the whole of organisation engagement in co-Design processes, focused on strategic alignment, will shape, and then refine the development of this identity.
In this way respectfully engaging in co-Design was less about Agency in Design prescribing a fixed method, and more about all participants identifying productive approaches to co-Design within the organisational context and aligning their actions to be congruent with such. This concept of alignment was key for the integration and embodiment of an organisations brand identity. We contend that it must emerge from within, be authentic, and be relevant to all those relating to it. If organisations, and the individuals within, have agency and know how they are related, they are going to do the right thing with their brand communication and work moving forward.
To help support this, and ensure consistency and confidence in applying new identity, we also crafted a living document containing guidelines for the entire identity system: Brand Information & Background, Logo Usage, Colour Palette, Primary and Secondary Typography Use, Photography Style and Integration, Common Errors, and Voice & Tone Recommendations. In addition, we designed ready-made templates for key collateral material and include a library of relevant bespoke assets. All to support the roll out of the new brand.
Upon completion of the project, Agency in Design presented a visual art piece that spoke to the whole of the interactions that crafted the new identity, and which serves as a principled map for the organisation moving forward.
