New website promotes co-operatives for a better world

City lights reflecting into ocean during dark blue evening

BC Co-op’s redesigned brand & website helped them reduce their team’s admin workload / Photo: BC Coop Association

Date 2017

ClientBC Co-op Association

Team

Lisa Hemingway, creative direction, brand design & website design; Madelen Ortega, project management, content strategy & writing; Carla Ullrich, web strategy & development; Keiko Lee-Hem, production design

By reimagining the BC Co-op Association brand, we provided brand clarity to help design, write, and develop their new website to meet their new strategic goals.

Visit the BC Co-op Association website

Communication design challenge

The BC Co-op Association (BCCA) promotes co-ops as powerful tools for community control over local economies, and as key strategies for economic and social reform. 2016/2017 marked a new era for the organization and an exciting time for the international co-op movement. The BCCA wanted this new energy and their connection to the international co-op movement reflected in its external communication tools.

iilo Creative Alliance (previously called Backyard Creative) was engaged to help re-establish a brand image in line with the BCCA’s new strategic direction. The scope of work included core messaging, a logo, business cards, and a complete website redesign which included all new web content.

BC Co-op Association logo variations and business card

Outcomes

Starting with an in-depth discovery workshop, we led the BCCA team through a redesign process that resulted in aligning their brand more closely with the International Co-operative Alliance. This alliance connects the BCCA’s efforts to elevate the business model and business case for co-ops to the larger co-op movement.

We wrote new core messaging (mission, vision, and tagline) and created a suite of user-friendly brand assets, including a detailed graphic standards guide, to help the BCCA team maintain brand consistency throughout their various communications materials.

BC COOP Website displayed on an array of devices — BC Co-op Association website displayed on an array of devices

The BCCA’s new website was custom built in WordPress, with the aim to streamline web maintenance and workflow while modernizing the design and user experience. The new site features a membership database and modular template elements that were easily activated on the back end without code. We also simplified the navigational structure and introduced a bold typographic hierarchy, allowing the BCCA team to create engaging, visually interesting pages without relying on an image.

We re-wrote all website content (except member database entries) and created new content pages to tell the BCCA’s new story succinctly, support the organization’s strategic plan, and increase membership. The BCCA website continues to support the organization by reducing administrative time and having a well-considered website that clearly communicates what they do.