I believe as designers, especially in-house designers, we have incredible power over the direction our organizations take. We have the power to make platforms accessible, and the mission/vision-driven agendas digestible for internal and external audiences. I think the best thing you can do for your organization is to dissect the potential of your brand and make it approachable for everyone. At Woodland Park Zoo, we spearheaded a bold new refresh of our brand guidelines that helped streamline and focus the organization’s goals.
In 2010, when Woodland Park Zoo’s new logo and brand were introduced, The brand guidelines consisted simply of 12 basic pages of do’s and do not’s. They were fine. They discussed fonts and colors, white space, photography, and illustration, but they didn’t go past “Woodland Park Zoo - the logo”. I don’t think the organization even knew what else to even say about itself at that point in time. But as time passed, we grew as an institution. We transitioned CEOs and redefined our mission and vision. We created document after document to state and justify our position, but instead of bringing clarity, it alienated staff. Staff who couldn’t keep up with pages of corporate speech.
I was in a fortunate position. I worked on every document, white page, and study that the executive team requested. I had a pretty solid understanding of what they were intending to say and a direct line of communication to the executive team. I also had the ear of many colleagues who weren’t part of these insider conversations and who were not going to read the overwhelming number of dry documents and complicated charts. I was able to witness their frustration and confusion. It was a tumultuous time, but I knew design was a tool that could help the situation.
With the definition of “brand” changing globally, I knew updating our guidelines was the clear solution. We weren’t rebranding, but we were shifting, so the guide needed to also. I approached my director, who had also been having the same idea and we got to work. We sifted and sorted through numerous documents, studies, and charts, to pick away at everything except the most essential messages. We took our information and layered concepts so every staff member from zookeepers and ticketing staff to major gift officers, to education and conservation departments, was able to understand the essence of a brand and more importantly, how they contributed it.
In the end, we combined over five separate documents that the staff was supposed to read and understand and boiled them down into one all-encompassing toolkit. This toolkit started with the basics, the who, what and why, and expanded to the how from multiple angles.
Even though covid has stunted the way we operate and delayed the rollout to some departments, we’ve received only positive comments from outside vendors and partners who also tell the zoo's story.
