Vibrant colours and design templates modernize library brand

Though the logo itself didn’t change much, we introduced graphic elements to help give this brand a fresh new look.

Date 2019

ClientNorth Vancouver City Library

Work TypeBranding

Team

Lisa Hemingway, creative director; Sofia Roberts, graphic designer; Madelen Ortega, project manager

To reflect the North Vancouver City Library’s position as a vibrant community hub, iilo updated their logo with lively colours and created design templates that made it easy to share information in print and digital formats.

Communication design challenge

The North Vancouver City Library (NVCL) is more than a building located in the heart of the City of North Vancouver. It is also a welcoming hub of learning and connection on the traditional, unceded lands of the Coast Salish Peoples, including the territories of the Skwxwú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish Nation) and səl̓ílwətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh Nation).

NVCL reached out to iilo for a brand refresh and to develop supports for their in-house design team. Starting with a brand audit, we uncovered the opportunity to modernize the NVCL brand with more lively hues and to introduce secondary brand colours. The new colour palette reflects the original logo colours, but better aligns with the brand’s fun, vibrant personality. The secondary colour palette allows for expandability and customization for the library’s various programming streams.

The North Vancouver City Library’s new colour palette reflects a more lively take on the original logo.

To support the library’s online and offline engagement with the community, we created a range of design templates for print and digital communications. Using modular graphic elements, we ensured that print templates would be easy to use for library staff members and digital assets would offer a friendly user experience for website visitors.

Poster templates using the refreshed brand to promote events and workshops at the library.

The refreshed brand applied to the NVCL’s website. (Note: We provided graphics and image templates but didn’t build the website.)

Given the scope of branding updates, we also redesigned the NVCL’s library cards and created a graphic standards document outlining established brand details and newer brand refinements, from colours and fonts to logo placement and graphic element use.

North Vancouver City Library report template and library card design using the refreshed brand.

Outcomes

NVCL’s vision is to empower growth, spark curiosity, foster creativity and innovation, and galvanize community potential. Their visual brand now matches that forward-thinking energy. Furthermore, their team now has versatile design templates to continue rolling out the refreshed brand and graphic standards to help maintain continuity over time.