Girlguiding – Digital brand guidelines to encourage coherence across online channels

2017 – ongoing

Brand

Girlguiding is the leading charity for girls and young women in the UK, empowering them to be their best and face the challenges of growing up today.

Girlguiding needed a comprehensive set of digital-specific guidelines to ensure brand coherence online. We helped them codify their online presence, enhance their digital brand assets, and overturn a few brand preconceptions along the way.

Brand audit and consultation

Girlguiding came to us during a period of change. They were in the middle of a restructure and had recently launched a website and major new campaign. They were about to develop several new online platforms but required additional exploration and guidance on their brand first to support the upcoming design work and ensure a consistent look and feel across their future online presence.

We conducted a thorough brand audit, focusing primarily on digital channels but with an eye on print applications. We also carried out a series of interviews and workshops which asked participants to comment on a range of brand applications and explore the disconnect between digital and print in detail.

Evolution of visual identity for digital channels

Our recommendations included reinstating some of the established subtle core brand assets, such as the use of angles and colour overlays into the digital approach. One particular challenge was around social media assets, where there is a fine line to take between ensuring consistency and providing enough flexibility for content producers.

We developed a system that involved the concept of ‘brand echoes’, which could guide users around the appropriate level of brand consistency for any given context and provide them the tools and templates to implement it.

Codifying the new approach

While much of the value lay in the process itself, the main deliverable for the project is a detailed set of digital brand guidelines and an accompanying asset library. These work both independently and as a companion to the corel brand guidelines.

We were able to put the guidelines into action immediately as this project led directly into the new site development for Girlguiding’s Activity Centres.