By Lorna Gough. April 2022
Our CCVS logo and branding was designed some years ago. It has served CCVS very well, but was beginning to look dated and in need of an update.
It’s been a lengthy process but we’re really happy with the end results which we’re sharing with you today.
Once we had the backing and agreement from our Trustees, we began to think about what we wanted in a brand refresh. We decided which elements we would like to keep, namely, a recognisable purple colour; the CCVS part of the logo; and some sort of roundel, in keeping with other CVS’s and NAVCA.
We worked with Chris Gooch, of Open Design Agency Limited, to chat about what we had in mind and put together our initial brief. Chris studied our annual review, our values and our website to gain a real flavour of our work, aims and objectives. As we had been considering updating our Vision and Mission too, Chris advised getting those in place first, so that the vision could become our new strapline for the logo.
Mark, our CEO, put together a proposal document for the Vision and Mission which was circulated for comments and suggestions among our team and the trustees. Some great suggestions gave us plenty to think about and we finally settled on something we were all happy with. This was then put to the Trustees for approval which we’re happy to say was given!
Our Vision
We wanted something short, sharp, and meaningful, aspirational words that would look good on our office wall to show what we’re about. We wanted the vision to drill down to the heart of everything we, and our local organisations do, namely, focussing on community.
Our new Vision is: Fair, Strong, Connected Communities
This has been added to our new logo and gives an immediate flavour of our work and values.
Our Mission
We recognised that our Mission needed to be longer. The Mission describes what it is CCVS does, how we achieve our Vision, and becomes our elevator pitch. It gives us the who, why and how of what we do.
Our new Mission is:
We work with individuals and organisations in communities to help them build places that anyone would want to live in, work in, or visit. We:
- Promote relationship building and collaboration with individuals and organisations working in communities
- Provide practical support to build the knowledge and confidence of those working in organisations in the community
- Amplify the voices of those in communities so they can influence policy makers
Our logo and branding
After many emails backwards and forwards, online chats, and revisions, the logo and brand evolved, and Chris was able to share the final files with us. We’re thrilled with the results.
The CCVS initials have kept a similar purple but have been redesigned in a different font and have had shadowing added. The new Vision has become the strapline.
The roundel, which is made up of individual icons representing people, was reduced from 12 icons, to 6, to match the number of our values. Each of the 6 icons has been given one of our new brand colours.
We wanted the logo to give us flexibility, so as well as using the main logo as a whole, we are able to pull out the different elements to use separately. We have the option of using the roundel in one single colour, on its own, or with the CCVS initials. We can also pull out individual icons to use as we wish. We have the logo in files of different size and formats, in black, white and greyscale, and a logo without shadowing should we need it. Now all we need do is to start using it!
You will notice a very gradual transformation. We don’t have the capacity to do a major launch and change everything all at once. We plan to update things as we use them, so our old logo will be around for some time to come. We need time to think about templates for various aspects of our work, and need to find a balance between looking professional, but having time to get on with what we do best – supporting organisations.
If you’re considering a refresh, here are some tips we’ve learned along the way:
- Be open minded from the start, your ideas may undergo many evolutions before you get to the final result.
- If you’re going to appoint a designer, find someone you can have an honest conversation with, who listens to your ideas, and is open to change, but willing to challenge you if necessary.
- Involve your team in some of the brainstorming and seek opinions. Even though someone may have to have the final say, hearing other people’s ideas can open a whole new way of thinking.
- Trust your instincts! Put your ideas out there, be bold if you wish to.
- Work with your Trustees, after all, they will need to agree with your proposals, especially if there is a budget involved.
If any organisations wish to chat to us about the process in more detail. Do get in touch. We’d also love to know that you think of the new branding.
Our next big project will be updating our website, but that will take some time.
Watch this space!
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