ICSA – corporate design guidelines

  • Marie Schulz
This is the big one of the last 12 years: the thorough rebrand of ICSA. Senior management, marketing team and brand experts worked together to decide on the core values, mission statement and brand strategy for this professional membership body and I was right in the middle of it all. As in-house designer, I was in charge of the visual translation and implementation of this project which culminated in a consistent, clean look and feel of ICSA and detailed corporate design guidelines.

The typographical logo in the primary house colours (blue = trust and authority) tops ICSA’s clean and modern identity. The coat of arms of the Royal Charter is used as a footer device to link to the organisation’s rich heritage. Equally, the typefaces Frutiger and Plantin Italics underline the same visual concepts respectively.

The accreditation marks show the relationships with a wide range of affiliated and partner organisations. These consist of regional branches, chartered secretaries in public practice, subsidiary companies and special interest groups such as registrars.

The 45º angles add warmth, depth and texture and enable the brand to use strong blues without being dark, heavy or cold.

Photography plays a major role in making the ICSA brand distinctive. Member portraits are used to help convey strong messages that reflect the values and the integrity and character of the company secretary and wider governance profession.

ICSA employees are the face of the organisation. Using charismatic people who act naturally in front of the camera is a great way to bring out the personality of ICSA and help engage with its key audiences. Supportive imagery shows corporate landscapes, work environments, hand gestures and conceptual illustrations to keep the visuals interesting. Infographics are being used to illustrate complex ideas in an easily understandable way.

All together, consistently applied, ICSA now displays a truly powerful brand and I’m proud of having been the essential ingredient of the visual execution and implementation of it.