Global Leadership Alliance Rebrand-
The Global Leadership Alliance (GLA) is a corporate conglomerate focused on immersing leaders from the member organizations in future-shaping contexts. The alliance allows companies across industries to see connections across verticals, to network, and to formulate new strategies to successfully navigate the changing world. The most recent iteration of the GLA included Schneider Electric, Wipro, BP, L’Oréal, and Eli Lilly.
The goal for this project was to reimagine the visual brand of GLA.
I established a cleaner visualization complete with new logo, new characterizing images, and new implementation strategy for collateral.
I established a cleaner visualization complete with new logo, new characterizing images, and new implementation strategy for collateral.
The primary concern for selecting a font for GLA was accessibility and crossover from system to system. The primary language between and among the GLA member companies is Microsoft Office, specifically PowerPoint. Segoe UI Light is a TrueType font and a default option within the MS Office font-set. I chose it as the representative font of the new GLA brand for it's clean appearance and juxtaposition created by the relationship between the thin serif and the thicker curves with sharp edges of the icon. It also helps that Segoe UI Light is part of a large font-family.
The unique brand colors were chosen because they do not appear in any of the member companies brand material, thus creating a uniquely unifying style agnostic of current or future membership.
In developing the brand, it was also important to identify the style of images, illustration, and visual content-aids. Without the time or budget to higher a photographer, or do photographic experimentation myself, I spent time in the early development stages to select and present representative stock imagery to key project stakeholders. As a result, I was able to provide a more full experience of implementation, making it easier for stakeholders to agree and accept the new direction.
In developing the brand, it was also important to identify the style of images, illustration, and visual content-aids. Without the time or budget to higher a photographer, or do photographic experimentation myself, I spent time in the early development stages to select and present representative stock imagery to key project stakeholders. As a result, I was able to provide a more full experience of implementation, making it easier for stakeholders to agree and accept the new direction.
Logo Development Process
The Global Leadership Alliance (GLA) member companies are well-known, with recognizable individual branding (Schneider Electric, Wipro, BP, L’Oréal, and Eli Lilly). The former “logo” was actually a composition that included each member-company’s brand mark placed around identifying-type (Global Leadership Alliance). This presented three key challenges:
1.) Did NOT meet individual company brand standards (broke company brand rules)
2.) Required reworking each time a member exited or joined the alliance
3.) Lacked application versatility across media
2.) Required reworking each time a member exited or joined the alliance
3.) Lacked application versatility across media
The goal was to create something that answered the three challenges, represented the conglomerate as a brand, and unified its members. As seen in the initial sketches, the original direction centered around connectivity, stack-ability, and congruence to represent the uniqueness of each member company and the unity of the alliance.
From there, I went into adding the “global” elements, which eventually emerged as a stronger point of inspiration.
The final GLA logo is an abstract rendering of a traditional desk globe. The inspiration for the form came from the re-brand imagery agreed upon by stakeholders (shown in the previous project). With no resemblance to any of the member companies’ logos, in color or form, the logo unified the GLA program participants under a single mark.
