CASE STUDYUSAID Data Services: Building a Brand within a Brand
USAID Data Services serves as the one-stop shop for the USAID community’s data needs and ensures that USAID staff, partners, and the American public have the tools and information necessary to make informed decisions about foreign assistance programming for years to come. Since USAID Data Services is a brand within USAID, stakeholders wanted to revamp USAID Data Services to visually communicate that they are the creative innovators of USAID’s web, digital, and data related products.
PROBLEMPREVIOUS BRANDINGDuring the Brand Discovery phase, stakeholder interviews and a marketing analysis were conducted to determine the primary problems with the current USAID Data Services Brand. It was determined that the primary issues were:
Engagement: Low newsletter click rates and a lack of awareness of USAID data services showed that there was low engagement overall.
Outdated design that is difficult to incorporate: Stakeholders were not happy with the overall aesthetic of the brand and wanted a fresh and clean look that can be easy for staff to incorporate in deliverables.
Limited color pallets and accessibility issues: Data Services products were limited to what colors could be used in Data Visualization, which was a problem for telling accessible and impactful data stories for all audiences.
CHALLENGE & OBJECTIVES Challenge:
USAID Data Services acts as a “brand within a brand” in that it is part of USAID’s overall branding. That means I could not change the Primary or Secondary USAID Brand color pallets or the primary typefaces. I worked closely with the communications team and data visualization specialists to work within these strict perimeters, but still create something new, fresh, and accessible.
Project Objectives:
Enhanced Accessibility: Add colors pallets with restrictions to data visualization only so that Data Services can provide more accessible and impactful products.
Increase Engagement: Revamp the brand’s identity so that the Agency understands the brand’s purpose and mission.
Modernized Design: Create a modern look to the brand’s overall identity that would also be easy for others to replicate in presentations, reports, and digital products.
BRAND DISCOVERYI sat down with our communications specialists, data analysts, and primary stakeholders to have a brain storming session where we wrote down our ideas of who and what Data Services is. After 20 minutes of brain storming, we then took turns talking about the stickies that stood out the most in terms of how we want our audience to perceive the brand.
Outcome
Primary Audience: USAID Internal
Key Words: Creative, Experts, Innovators, Modern, Fun, Evidence-driven, Accessible, Reliable
STYLE GUIDEThe style guide was updated to include guidelines for the logotype, typography, and the addition of data visualization specific guidelines that can be applied to USAID Data Services deliverables. I worked closely with data visualization specialists to create an accessible color pallet and typography guidance for data visualization that will not only create product consistency, but ensure that products are colorblind safe and inclusive.
NEW BRANDINGThe new brand is clean and modern, but still gives a nod to data with more muted technology elements. The new graphic elements were inspired by Bauhaus design for its minimalistic, modern feel. Below are some examples of the new branding in use.
