MARCH 2005 ISSUE
A New Face Emerges
APEGGA’s New Logo and Visual Identity
Are Parts
of
Evolving Brand
APEGGA Logo Rationale “The organic "swooshes" speak to both the human element of APEGGA and to the multi-disciplinary nature of the organization. The new colour palette of green and blue represents earth and water; the core elements of our environment. “The work of APEGGA's members impacts and interacts with our physical environment and their work contributes to shaping the lives of all Albertans.” |
It’s official! APEGGA members have a new logo.
The logo consists of two basic parts. First is the icon, described as a blue capital letter “A” with one green and one blue “swoosh” at the bottom of the right-hand side. In addition to representing “Alberta” and “Association,” the icon retains a connection to the pyramid logo.
The second part of the logo is our word mark – the acronym “APEGGA” in green below the icon. See accompanying article on the designer’s story behind the icon.
Beyond the Logo
But why a new logo? And why now?
Not unlike the proverbial iceberg, the logo is the highly visible tip of a much
larger entity – the APEGGA brand. In fact the logo and the accompanying
descriptive text, or tag lines, are just one part of APEGGA’s visual identity,
which consists of a new colour palette and graphic approach to organizing and
presenting information.
The impact of the new visual identity can best be seen in the redesigned APEGGA
website, which we successfully launched on Feb. 15 at www.apegga.org.
The visual identity – of which the logo is but one small, albeit a very important, part – is in turn a part of the much larger brand strategy. Successful and progressive organizations evolve their visual identity over time, retaining a link to the old, but with a new, fresh look. As well, brands evolve to meet the needs and wishes of stakeholders.
The Association does not own the brand – members do, because the brand is a perception held in the minds of members and others.
How Members Helped Members were asked to indicate their preferred approach for each element by
assigning a first, second, third and fourth choice ranking to each element. |
The revised brand strategy is a direct result of member feedback received
in a survey conducted by an independent consultant on APEGGA’s behalf.
The results were reviewed by the APEGGA members on the Communications Planning
Committee, who supported the idea of a communications audit.
As a result of that spring 2002 audit, it became clear that a number of issues
needed to be addressed to maintain and improve communications at APEGGA. The
planning committee’s November 2002 report to Council included a number
of recommendations that were accepted by Council. These included the development
of a brand strategy that, among other things, would address a concern about the
inconsistency of APEGGA’s visual identity and the generic pyramid logo.
Following a request-for-proposal process, Brown Communications of Calgary was engaged in July 2003 and began the process of researching and planning the brand strategy. In addition to the Communications Planning Committee, the Executive Committee and staff, members were engaged to provide feedback in focus groups in August 2004 and through the member feedback mechanism, found online and published in the January 2005 PEGG. See accompanying article for a summary of Member feedback.
Implementation of the brand strategy recommendations has been slower than we expected, in part because of the discussions around the Inclusivity Initiative and the need to focus additional attention on consultation and communications with members. Still, there have already been a number of changes to The PEGG, to the website and now to our visual identity. Together with consultation on Inclusivity and the strategic plan, these demonstrate an emerging new face of APEGGA.
The Dynamics of Branding
The new logo and new visual identity are the visible attributes of a brand strategy
focused on members and what you as a member experience when you interact with
APEGGA. It is not a project with a beginning, middle and an end; rather, it is
a continuous, evolving process.
It recognizes a member-focused way of doing business. It is part of the evolution
of the member experience that will keep APEGGA relevant to, and in touch with,
both current and future licensed professionals in engineering, geology and geophysics
in Alberta.
The Tag Lines Building the future
Exploring Possibilities. Creating Solutions. Exploring Possibilities. Creating Solutions. |
Where to from here?
Council has accepted staff recommendations to adopt the new logo and to use,
dependent upon circumstances, one of four pairs of tag lines. See box.
The implementation of the new visual identity will continue to be done on an
as-needed basis over the next 24 months. For example, printed material with the
pyramid logo will be redesigned and replaced as existing supplies are exhausted.
Of course new material will reflect the new visual identity, including the new
logo, and where appropriate, tag lines, and some high priority items such as
signage, will be revised as soon as possible.
Of particular interest to members will be the redesigned member and permit holder logos for use on stationery, publications, vehicles and other applications, together with visual identity guidelines for use when applying the new logos to your materials. This is also a high priority and members will be notified through the e-PEGG, the website and The PEGG when these items become available.
In an effort to reduce the budget impact of implementing the visual identity element of the new brand strategy, we are not going to change everything overnight. And in an effort to ensure that we do not replicate the inconsistencies of the previous visual identity, we are going to take the time necessary to develop and apply the visual identity guidelines – to get it right and to keep it consistent. So, please bear with us during the initial transition implementation phase as we work to present a consistent, contemporary and professional reflection of APEGGA members in your Association.
Author Credits
BY PHILIP MULDER, APR
APEGGA Communications Manager