What I see when I look at our new branding

Jan 17, 2024

By Tamzin Caffrey, Head of Communications

Hopefully you’ve noticed we’ve got a new logo and as we start to use our new branding more widely you should get a sense of the general look and feel that sits alongside it. You might see a puzzle, a problem to solve, the letter ‘e’. You might just see a logo and that’s fine, too.

When you work in Comms, you see things differently to other people. At least that’s my experience. Shapes, sizes, colours, typos, alignments, photos, repeated words, capitals and the one all Comms people love to hate, Comic Sans.

What I see when I look at our new branding is a fresh, new look that reflects the organisation EngineeringUK is today and aspires to be in the future. This may seem far-fetched but hear me out.

EngineeringUK had the same logo, colour palette and design elements for around 14 years - since around the time Obama was first elected. Think about how much the world, fashions and how we live has changed since then. It’s a long time. And while as an organisation EngineeringUK has changed massively since then, the brand visuals were the same. A change was overdue.

I have felt this for some years as we grappled with trying to keep things on brand while also keeping things looking fresh and appealing. As I say, Comms people see things differently. But, as a not-for-profit we have a duty to use our resources well and rightly, we’ve prioritised other work.

In 2023, the crystallisation of a new 5-year strategy, plans for digital development (and a small underspend in my budget) allowed the opportunity to refresh the brand. And I have loved every part of the process.

It’s all very well saying you want your branding to represent who you are as an organisation, but for that to be possible, to be able to brief a creative agency and not waste time and money, you need to be really clear on what that means. Luckily, I work with people who are comfortable sharing their views. So, we worked with all staff and with our trustees to really tease out what that looks like.

Taking all that input and distilling it into a (jargon alert!) brand framework took time, but for me was one of the real highlights of the year. When the starting point is hundreds of post-it notes and the result is a one pager that really captures the essence of an organisation, that feels amazing.

OK, so brand framework is a fancy way of saying what you are trying to do and how you go about it. In the ‘what’ we have our purpose: to drive change so more young people choose engineering and tech careers and includes our vision and mission. The ‘how’ has our values, brand personality and voice, so the guiding principles on how we do things and how we interact and communicate.

The designers took the framework as inspiration and worked with us to create a logo, strapline and visual style that encapsulates what EngineeringUK is all about and reflects our ambition and values. Shout out to Emma and the team at Door 22, who were brilliant to work with. They understood that the job meant representing the organisation, the brand and the work, including things we do under other brands (Tomorrow’s Engineers, The Code and so on)

So, now when I see the new branding, I also see the brand framework. I see an organisation that’s really clear on what it’s trying to achieve, why it’s so important and how it’s going to be in the world. And yes, I see the shapes, sizes, colours, alignments and capitals and the blessed absence of Comic Sans!