Hertfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership
Accelerating sustainable economic growth in Hertfordshire
Brand refresh to reflect Hertfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership’s pivotal role in driving local economic priorities over the past ten years.
The challenge
Hertfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) is one of 38 LEPS across the country set up by the Government to accelerate economic growth. Working with local private and public sector partners – businesses, government, investors, education and not-for-profit organisations – the LEP puts people at the heart of growth. Since its formation in 2011, it has secured over £325m funding to invest locally and now sits at the head of a growing family of proposition-led brands, including Hertfordshire Growth Hub.
I have proudly partnered with the LEP since 2015 on many creative projects, including a brand refresh in 2016, which brought in much greater clarity around visual identity.
By 2020 the in-house communications team recognised the brand needed refreshing again to reflect the rapid growth of the organisation, its changing priorities and increasing importance.
I was delighted to be asked to support the team again with evolving the visual brand identity to reinforce the LEP’s ambitions for the future.
Project scope
• Brand identity refresh
• Brand guidelines
• Print and digital design
• Email marketing template
Audit and insights
We started with a brand audit to clarify the need for and scope of the subsequent brand refresh. With a forward-thinking vision and definition of new brand values and voice to drive future actions, it was clear the LEP needed a brand that better reflects how it does things, as well as its status. Not only this, but the brand identity system also needed to be more versatile to overcome the challenge of having a diverse range of audiences.
The brand audit clarified that evolution was the best way to build upon the strength of the previous refresh. There was no need to start from scratch. Many of the existing brand elements had gained recognition and were working well.
Colour was one of those elements. Purple and teal had become synonymous with Hertfordshire LEP over the years. To make them work harder, I devised a supporting palette of tints, together with rules to use colour. This adds much-needed versatility.
An arrow device, introduced in the previous refresh to symbolise partnership, progression and growth, had also become a core part of identity. It was used as a social media profile icon and an illustrative element on marketing materials, making it a distinctive brand asset. We decided to utilise this valuable asset.
Building upon distinctive assets – a new logo
However, the LEP’s logo had never been reviewed, was dated and difficult to use in terms of practical application. It made sense to harness the power of the arrow device for its familiarity and incorporate it within a completely new logo design. The new logo is distinctive, easy to apply legibly and creates trust and continuity.
To increase brand awareness, the distinctive arrow system was updated to be used illustratively as a graphic device that can be used creatively. It also features within a library of icons that aid brand recognition and make communications clearer.
Meanwhile, an upgraded typography system provides a grown-up, distinctive edge across communications. It gives the LEP’s content a clear hierarchy which also improves accessibility.
Introducing strategic imagery
Imagery plays a major role in any identity. But finding generic imagery to represent Hertfordshire LEP had always been hard due to its broad remit of activities. One image couldn’t always convey the right message.
To solve this, I introduced two imagery styles to work on different levels.
Firstly, strategic imagery boldly introduces the brand at a high level on materials that aren’t focusing on a specific project. These images feature textures and movement in the brand colours, creating an evocative mood.
Context imagery brings LEP-funded projects to life using real scenarios of Hertfordshire’s people, places and businesses.
The final goal of the refresh was to make the relationship between the LEP and its sub-brands clearer to evidence the LEP’s continued impact. A system was devised to communicate this by displaying either a ‘Powered by’ logo lock-up or descriptor prominently on all sub-brands where the LEP has full ownership.
Creativity and consistency
All these assets need to be used in way that creates recognition and communicates clearly, so a new, more comprehensive set of brand guidelines were a must. I designed an in-depth brand book to introduce the brand, demonstrate how to apply the brand assets and show the transformed brand in action. The more versatile brand system has clear rules for suppliers and partners to follow for consistency, while allowing flexibility for design creativity.
To complete the refresh, I designed stationery and a suite of branded templates enabling a smooth launch. The templates make creating on-brand communications in-house straightforward, cost-effectiveand efficient for the LEP in-house team. In fact, they have been so well-used that the team no longer needs a designer to create every white paper, presentation deck or social media graphic!
I also worked with the LEP’s web design agency as brand guardian, to ensure the new identity was incorporated into the brand’s new website successfully.
Client feedback
“Andrea is creative, friendly, approachable and gets the job done! The client/supplier relationship has been a key part of our success. We could procure an agency but we know that she spends a huge amount of time researching our organisation and that reaps dividends in the end result. If you could clone another Andrea, that would be helpful!”
— Lucy Gravatt, Head of Communications, Hertfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership
Launch and beyond
This refresh has introduced a particularly dynamic feel to communication. Since launching its new brand identity, Hertfordshire LEP continues to go from strength to strength, and has recently celebrated a decade of delivery.
“The LEP has increased its profile hugely thanks, in part, to its directional branding,” explains Lucy Gravatt, Head of Communications at the LEP. A distinctive identity really is a key factor in improving perceptions and visibility.
I’m excited to see the LEP go on to achieve their vision for Hertfordshire to become a world-leading economy.
