brand refresh for danish teacher's union
Strengthening Denmark's biggest teacher's union
Client: Frie Skolers Lærerforening
Deliverable: Visual identity, brand guidelines
Technical: Photoshop, Illustrator, After Effects, Premiere Pro, XD
Role: Identity design, UI design, UX design
Deliverable: Visual identity, brand guidelines
Technical: Photoshop, Illustrator, After Effects, Premiere Pro, XD
Role: Identity design, UI design, UX design
FSL serves teachers all around Denmark and have done so for decades.
The union has grown from 8 members to 10.000 as of today, amassing more members after mergind several smaller unions throughout the years. FSL protects the rights of teachers and fights for a good work environment for all.
Teachers sign up become members and gain access to FSL’s services that range from:
• Discuss their rights
• Work-related injuries
• Legal advice
• Counseling
• Paycheck
• Vacation
• Retirement plans
• Work environment
• Maternity leave
The union has grown from 8 members to 10.000 as of today, amassing more members after mergind several smaller unions throughout the years. FSL protects the rights of teachers and fights for a good work environment for all.
Teachers sign up become members and gain access to FSL’s services that range from:
• Discuss their rights
• Work-related injuries
• Legal advice
• Counseling
• Paycheck
• Vacation
• Retirement plans
• Work environment
• Maternity leave
The goal
Instead of revealing weaknesses, the logo should reveal strength. Trust in the unions hostory, its size, its members, staff, debaters, counselors, lawyers. To gain new members and to establish FSL as the go-to union for danish teacher’s, the new logo must be:
FSL is steadily growing in members. However, things have not gotten easier for the teachers. New legislation forces teachers to work longer hours and cuts prep time before lessons. THis makes the work that FSL does more relevant than ever: Ensure that teachers rights are protected, that mental and physical health is prioritized and that every teacher gets the vacation that they are entitled to.
FSL wants to communicate their heritage and their strength as a union.
In their own words, the logo is revealing weaknesses over time:
• Logo disappears next to competitors
• Logo is hard to use on web, posters and print
• Logo has a mark with no significant meaning
• Logo is hard to read
FSL wants to communicate their heritage and their strength as a union.
In their own words, the logo is revealing weaknesses over time:
• Logo disappears next to competitors
• Logo is hard to use on web, posters and print
• Logo has a mark with no significant meaning
• Logo is hard to read
Solution
• Easily recognizable
• Resemble FSL
• Usable in a variety of contexts (easy to read, take up less space)• Symbolic of the union
• Easily recognizable
• Resemble FSL
• Usable in a variety of contexts (easy to read, take up less space)• Symbolic of the union
The gap
Taking a risk like this and deciding to renew a logo that’s 10 year old is a big bet.
But it signifies an important move: Taking risks to gain bigger results. A big thanks to FSL for opening up the competition.
But it signifies an important move: Taking risks to gain bigger results. A big thanks to FSL for opening up the competition.
FSL is aiming to grow bigger, gain more members and is striving to provide better service for its members. Right now, the visual identity is outdated and doesn’t signify the direction of the union and the work it’s doing. To support new growth, FSL is making an open call to danish designers, inviting them to provide a solution compatible with the new goals. The competition will be decided in August or September of 2019 and will be judged by a panel.
Rather than the logo revealing weaknesses, it should reveal strength.
• Strength in numbers
• Strength in history
• Strength in sharing knowledge
• All in service of the teachers and the free schools
• Strength in numbers
• Strength in history
• Strength in sharing knowledge
• All in service of the teachers and the free schools
The gamble
Instead of reaching out to a design agency or a freelancer, FSL did something different. They decided to take a risk and announce an open call, inviting all designers to send in entries for a logo competition.
Communication Director Mikkel Hvid announced the open call for the FSL logo design competition. A team was elected and a jury to pick the best option among the entries. This is bold and carries some risk: There are no guarantees that any option will work. The entres are made based on a brief on the company website, but beyong that, there is no communicaton between the designers and panel.
This entry was submitted 1/05/19. The winners are yet to be announced. 1st place is awarded 10.000 kr., 2nd place 5.000 kr. and 3rd place 2.500 kr. ALl rights will be transferred to the union, who own all rights to the logo and any materials submitted. This entry did was not awarded with a top 3 placement.
This entry was submitted 1/05/19. The winners are yet to be announced. 1st place is awarded 10.000 kr., 2nd place 5.000 kr. and 3rd place 2.500 kr. ALl rights will be transferred to the union, who own all rights to the logo and any materials submitted. This entry did was not awarded with a top 3 placement.
The gain
The image above is a legend of the current competitors, unions
and associations in the same space as FSL. You can see a comparison
between the old logo on the left and the new logo on the right.
and associations in the same space as FSL. You can see a comparison
between the old logo on the left and the new logo on the right.
The new FSL logo adresses the problems, that the current logo has. The name has been broken into two lines. This makes it easier to use on small rpint, flyers, A4s, A5’s, letterheads, in e-mails and on website.In the legend above, the updated logo takes up less space, but is easily recognizable. It is appropriate to the category, yet still stands out from the competitors with its red color, its minimal mark and unimposing size. This will help FSL emege and gain a bigger voice.
The logo is simpler, more minimalistic, but tells a bigger story. A solution emerged out FSL history. Two unions joined in a merger in 2006, FGL and EL, to make FSL. To communicate this, two different, joined shapes interlock into one shape. THis shape protects a person in the middle, signifying the teacher, who is the single most important person in the organization.
This mark, along with the type, makes it usable in more context and tells the story of the union. It bears meaning and will help FSL move forward. Now, FSL can move forward confidently, show their history and have an appropriate tone of voice, that still lets them stand out. A big thanks to FSL for making the open call to the competition.
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