Centre of Excellence: Brand Guidelines

Centre of Excellence (CoE) is leader in online learning that's helped to transform millions of lives. They grew to the point where their brand reach was vast, but lacking in consistency. We ensured their brand guidelines were just as comprehensive as their courses!

The Brief

WHAT THEY NEEDED

A common side effect of rapid online growth is brand identity becoming diluted by inconsistencies and misuse. Over the course of their 12-year journey, it was quite obvious that CoE had reached a point in their development where simple – yet vital – things like typography and colour consistency needed re-evaluation.

Once a company reaches a certain scale, brand recognition becomes a top priority, and constant fluctuations in visual elements and tone of voice (TOV) become detrimental. To ensure the heart of their business wasn’t lost amid their rapid expansion, CoE looked to us to clean things up for them.

Initial Investigations

HOW WE APPROACHED IT

We set to work by addressing the basics. Logo usage, typography, colour palette, correct imagery and iconography were our first ports of call. Ensuring there was a structured and understandable way for CoE to adapt and deliver marketing collateral that was both consistent and on brand was another must.

After this was done, we set about handling the much more nuanced messaging and TOV. Providing tips and insights for correct usage, pitfalls and consistency were among the most important things for us to tackle, so we made sure that all this and more appeared in our brand guidelines.

The Solution

WHAT WE DID

Our final brand guidelines document for CoE came in at 24 pages long, and it now serves as the “bible” for all of their campaigns. It begins by reiterating their mission statement to be inspirational, empowering, supportive and inclusive.

Having anchored everything in those key values, it moves on to define the variations of the CoE logo (complete with how to use it and how not to use it), their primary and secondary fonts, and their chosen colours (including accessibility). Moving past typography, it sets out the gold standard for CoE’s use of photography, iconography, videos and illustrations (including for social media purposes). Last up, it clearly outlines their tone of voice (complete with examples of what to do and what not to do), with additional details that show how to make sure that humour, emoji and hashtag usage is fully aligned with their brand.

Our Client Successes

Featured Case Studies

Professional Fundraiser’s goal was to be the UK’s most trusted fundraising provider. They aimed to enhance their brand recognition and ensure that their marketing reflected the professionalism of their elegant fundraising efforts.

We developed brand guidelines that reinforced their mission, vision, and values. These guidelines covered logo variations, typography, colours, and imagery across all platforms, including their website and marketing materials.

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