The Background

In 2019, Concern undertook a global brand refresh to craft a new, relevant brand narrative and bring global visual and verbal consistency to the brand. We were asked to create a cohesive brand toolkit reflecting the organisation's new unified approach.

When brand clarity is the objective, listening to all sides of the conversation and seeing the bigger picture is vital. We looked extensively at competitor brands in this space, running reviews and research workshops with staff and stakeholders in all of Concern's territories.

What began to emerge was the need for evolution. There was a huge, collective sense of pride in the hand-drawn Concern logotype, but it had been born into a world where print communication was king and lost touch in one where it was now all about digital.

The Idea

Extensive stakeholder qualitative interviews helped us craft a concise design brief and engage staff to help bring a new tagline and brand purpose to the fore.

Building on Concern’s most recognisable assets (their shade of green and hand-drawn logo), we successfully created a fresh and vibrant identity system fit for a digital future – a space where the previous identity and visual language were not performing well.

The Execution

Modernising the logo was the first port of call. We smoothed out its trademark lines to look better on screen, and then we refreshed and simplified the colour palette, landing on a green, which was more screen-friendly.

Next, a modern, more legible sans serif replacement for 'worldwide' was selected. From the DNA of the evolved logo, we created a bespoke graphic element to identify every piece of Concern communication, with a more impactful avatar created for social media platforms. It was so important the new visual treatment had a sensibility that would translate between Europe and the US.

Photography is a powerful asset for Concern. We provided direction on how best to use images from the field to bring the brand's core values to life, with guidelines on how and when to incorporate illustrations and graphics to ensure standout.

Being a truly global organisation that speaks to audiences on all levels, from young to old, individual to corporate, education to research, we developed a universal tone of voice that would be universally understood. The global brand book Red Dog developed guides the crafting of consistent messaging with a variety of flexible internal templates that encourage staff to create and manage their own content.