As a bit of a challenge to myself, I took the logo of local charity DIAL Barnsley, and decided to rebrand it. In their own words;

DIAL Barnsley is a registered charity providing free impartial advice and information to disabled people, carers and their professionals, throughout the borough of Barnsley. We strive to promote a positive image of disabled people and carers and our work is underpinned by the recognition that people are not all the same but all have a right to equality of opportunity.

Here’s the current DIAL Barnsley logo:

Not the best, eh? It’s too fussy, won’t be recogniseable rendered small such as on a business card, and above all, it’s outdated. I get what the designer was trying to do, emphasise that DIAL helps  put the pieces of your care puzzle together, but really it’s a vague and bland metaphor. DIAL Barnsley needs a new logo, and I made it my mission to design one whether they wanted it or not.

So before I could start designing, I had to decide what I wanted my logo to communicate, and what better for that than a mind-map? I highlighted key words that represent DIAL’s ethos, and chose to focus on freedom, support, independance, individuality, care and progress. From there I could begin to sketch out rough concepts for the logo on paper, and before I knew it I was experimenting in Illustrator. Here are the results of the inital drafts:

Some more refining, and:

The solid black portions surrounding, but not touching, the red shape (symbolising the human form) represent the theme of support and maintenance of freedom. Additionally, the ‘head’ rising above the black areas suggests the independence and individuality of the person offered by carers. The prominance of the red over the black implies that DIAL Barnsley sees the person first, and also creates an upwards arrow conveying positive progress.

Success!

Perhaps I could help your business in this way?

If your brand identity needs refreshing, or even if you’re building a brand from scratch, don’t hesitate to contact me. My services include complete brand design, design for print, web design and development.

Together we can build a brand that truly evokes emotion, and stands head and shoulders above the competition.