ABOUT THE PROJECT

 

In 2007, I was prominent in assisting St John Ambulance introduce a corporate identity for the first time in its history. 

 

As well as this, I personally designed the current new, modern logo.

 

I was given a wide remit to help assess and overhaul St John Ambulance’s visual identity.

 

Working with an external agency for 12 months, I reviewed the use of the brandmark, colours, typefaces and images as applied to stationery, literature, website, uniforms, signage and ambulances.

 

The new identity brought a fresher, livelier look to the organisation, better reflecting its place in modern society. This was a great leap forward in terms of ensuring a common approach to the charity’s communications, but there was more work to be done in changing the way the organisation was perceived.

 

Research carried out in 2009 showed that the general public still didn’t really understand St John Ambulance. They saw it as generally being ‘a good thing’, but didn’t really think of it, or first aid, as particularly important.

 

To change this perception, in 2010, I was influential in introducing a new focus to the range of communications materials, with a new brand identity based around the idea of ‘The difference’ – stressing that first aid can so often be the difference between life and death.

 

This messaging was used in the award-winning ‘Life Lost’ advertising campaign.

 

I also pared down the design style, aiming for a more minimal, serious and uncluttered approach.

 

I created the St John Ambulance Brand Toolkit, which included personally producing all of the templates and new brand guidelines, made available through the Brand resource site.

 

I worked with the Head of Communications to highlight the importance of effective ‘on brand’ design to the organisation and to establish an effective process of producing design work for internal clients. A large part of this was to promote the new intranet site (which I designed the visual style of) and Brand resource site (which I also designed and populated) to colleagues across the organisation and to provide support and guidance.

 

I would develop and keep the design templates up to date as part of the brand toolkit, creating the designs in both InDesign and Publisher, so as to allow greater usage by a wider audience.