Rebranding // Peace: Symbols

My first step is to create a logo for the party. To generate ideas I have searched for images that are associated with the following(which are words used by the peace party themselves):

Peace

Compassion

Cooperation

Equality

Environment

These images are very cliche and perhaps they need to be avoided - however they are what people immediately recognise.

Rebranding // Research: books

I have taken excerpts from some branding and logo books that are helpful to me.

Designing Brands - Emily Schrubbe-Potts

Brand architecture begins with the establishment and assessment of the positive attributes of the brand (consumer benefits) and then identifies those attributes as either intrinsic (physical) or extrinsic (emotional) properties of the brand. These brand assets are further analysed to reveal the brand essence - a few words or thoughts that represent the brand to the core and target consumer. Brand essence is the heart and soul of the brand and only when it is established should the process begin.

The next step is brand positioning statement development, which is defined as the consumer's sense of the tangible and intangible benefits of the brand and why it is better than the competition. Brand positioning serves as a guideline for marketers to sell their brand to target customers. The consumer study completes the brand architecture process and allows (after a creative brief is developed) for the brand design team to begin. The creative team now knows the brand's essence, positioning, and to whom they are speaking.

This strategic branding approach to designing start-up brands will give marketers, designers, and consumers the clearest picture of that brand and guarantees brand success. this methodology communicates critical brand imagery to target consumers, thus creating motivating purchase intent and long-term brand equity. It is a fun and enlightening process, and for start-up brands it is essential to their success and longevity. 

Really Good Logos explained - Margo Chase, Rian Hughes, Ron Miriello, Alex W. White

Get as much information as you can about who the audience really is. Meet them and talk to them if possible. Then design for them, not for yourself.

Do your best to understand the context of the business; who the competition is; what, how, and where the logo will appear; why it is needed and who will see it. Don't expect to get all of your information from the client. 

Find out how the logo will be used before you start designing. Nothing is worse than selling your client on a logo that looks great in full colour detail, and then finding out that it will only be printed in silk screen or embroidered.

What is the purpose of this logo? What adjectives would you use to describe the product/company? What image does the logo need to concisely convey? Where will it be used, and how? To what audience are you speaking? How can you address all the above in a memorable and original way?

If the logo is two different ideas combined, it'll probably communicate neither idea effectively.

Be original. Originality means creating something new, not lifting from an obscure source on the web, this book, or the chap sitting opposite you.

Think of the applications. A logo doesn't exist in isolation. If it's likely to appear on a shop fascia, it needs to be long and thin.

What makes them viable, and how can those qualities be expressed symbolically?

Rebranding // Political branding and campaigning: research

President Barack Obama

His logo features very traditional looking serif type, paired with a modern logo showing what seems like a sun rising over a mountain. It has connotations of hope and trust that are evident straight away.


The political website of Barack Obama is incredibly user-friendly, and uses a lot of iconic images that are very dramatic.

http://barackobama.com

It is clear that the website has been designed in such a way to persuade and effect people.
The tone of voice is assertive yet friendly, it is constantly including the viewer by saying 'we', and using some informal language (something that Obama is quite known for).

Rebranding // Peace Party: Contact

I contacted the Peace Party via email to ask them a few questions. I wanted to find some information such as their target audience and supporters, and also how they felt about logo branding.
John Morris, one of their parliamentary candidates, answered as below.

1. Firstly, who would you say your main target audience is in terms of age range, class, location and so on? 

I believe that everyone should be our audience - everyone (with very few exceptions - and they are likely to need some form of care from the community) wants Peace

Here he is stating that they want to entice anyone and everyone to support them - which is quite obvious because they are desperate to become a mainstream party. Anybody that wants Peace will benefit from supporting them.
When I work on the rebranding, I will not try to target a specific group of people, which is often what is needed in the corporate world.

2. Out of the members and supporters you have, are they different to that of your target audience?(For eg. maybe you already have a strong group of supporters that are aged 40+ and you are trying to attract a young target audience)
Two of our four General Election candidates are younger than 30 or so.  I am confident we are now beginning to attract people across the full age range. 

I didn't get the answer I was looking for here, which would be how old most of the supporters are. But again, they are interested in catering to everybody. The fact that half of the candidates are under 30 is a sign that it is very young person friendly, such as the Green party has enticed a lot of student voters.

3. Any thoughts on visual identity in politics, or what you would want to strongly communicate in the most simplest logo or imagery?
We have always found this a problem area.  E.g. the "peace dove" lacks the strength of non-violence and real peace (and could be confused with the Lib Dem's fluttering bird) while the tied-off gun barrel is far too negative for me.  (It's easy to say what we don't like than what we do!)  Perhaps the word PEACE alone captures it?  Peace is what people should be DOING. 

Good luck with this aspect!  I hope we can pick your brains!

John seems to think that the logo they already have with just the word 'PEACE' is simple and communicative enough, but I disagree. If anything it definitely needs fine tuning.

By peace dove and 'tied-off gun barrel' he is referring to the symbols below:

I agree that the gun is too negative. The dove is very cliche and maybe too soft.
He brought up a good point about getting logos confused, which is something I should look into. Every political logo should be clear and concise against others.

This was a helpful way of doing research, as I heard it directly from them (essentially my client). I will use this info to further my research into rebranding their party.

Study Task 05: Dissertations

By looking at some of last year's dissertations I have learnt some points about presentation and formality of my written work.

• Referring to the essay or project in the introduction is common and acceptable - I often have thought that it was not.

eg. 'The underlying question of this project is...'

      'This paper will investigate...'

• The introduction also outlines different chapters of the essay and what will be analysed.
• All the dissertations have contents at the start of the booklet, with 'list of illustrations' being before the essay. Images, bibliography and appendices are at the back.
• Long quotes are indented within the text, something I have not been doing but will now change.

Rebranding // The Peace Party: visual branding research

I couldn't find an official logo for the party, except for the header on the website with a 'PEACE' logo, and what seems like a catchphrase next to it.

The logo isn't a fully designed logo, or a strong one. No imagery is used and just bold letters, which are much too heavy, making the word quite illegible from a distance.

The colours used are too wide in selection and clash quite a bit, making me think that not much thought has gone into the making of it.

Labour party logo

When compared to the logos and colour schemes of the main parties, it is clear to see it needs a rebrand that will communicate the party's values better, and stand out more. Saying that, some of the more effective logos are very minimal, so trying to represent all the values in the imagery isn't needed. The sole purpose is to reflect a strong and trustworthy party.

The website of a political party is a big part of it's brand, and it is one of the easiest way for people to access information.
The Peace Party's website overall looks very outdated and dull. It's pretty easy to use, but it doesn't inspire.

It looks very unprofessional compared to websites like that of President Obama's...

Above is a screenshot of the Peace Party's blog - the logo seen on their main website is not present here, and the clear colour scheme is not one used on any other platform of theirs. This makes me think that they have no direct of colour or connotations, and it isn't something they are focusing on much.

As seen above their manifesto, there is an image of (what I believe to be) the most used words, which is a nice touch that creates a visual representation of their policies. Saying that, it could definitely be presented in a clearer and politically appropriate way.

The Twitter account is once again not branded with a logo or anything similar but only an image of 'peace' badges. The profile seems very casual.



Budget
I am aware that a big reason why the Peace Party hasn't got solid campaigning or branding behind it is because of money. It lacks funding like the Conservative party, for example. Maybe with a little funding it could make a difference.

Rebranding // The Peace Party: research

I have decided to choose the Peace Party to rebrand, because it is a very small party that is strongly against war, amongst inequality and injustice such as poverty and tuition fees. These values are important and strive for a better and more equal society - unlike a lot of right wing parties that mostly believe in people looking after themselves. Their policies also align with my personal beliefs.

Peace and the resolution of conflict 

The Peace Party does not support or condone war of any kind. War is a morally unacceptable way to resolve conflict and must never be an instrument of government policy. Governments should always foster and promote peace, and work to remove of the causes of war.Peace is not only desirable in international relations. It also needs to be expressed nationally through a proper regard for the interests of those with little or no political power, and by preventing commercial exploitation and domestic violence.

Values strongly against violence and war aren't that prominent in any of the main political parties at the moment - this should change, for a number of reasons such as funding and the moral complications. A country such as Britain or America has a huge power over some smaller countries, and it isn't ethical as lots of innocent people are being killed.
The fact that the government can commit gigantic crimes while citizens have strict laws against them, is believed to be illogical by many.

The Peace Party's policies

Below are overviews of the policies outlined on their website.

Responsibility
'we have a responsibility as citizens and members of a community not to consent to harm being done.'

Non-violence
'The Peace Party will press for a better and wider understanding of the principles and practice of non-violence, and will explore ways of incorporating into government sound and accepted techniques for peaceful conflict resolution.'

Militarism and the armed forces
'A society that is determined to resolve conflicts by peaceful means can have no use for armed forces, and we believe they should be disarmed. This will also help to assuage some countries' legitimate concerns about out intentions, and send a message of support to other peaceful countries.'

Giving minorities a voice
'The balance must be redressed by taking seriously the concerns of the poor and the politically weak, providing platforms where their voices can be heard, and bringing competing groups together in a positive atmosphere in an attempt to increase the level of mutual understanding.'

Domestic issues
'Over recent years there has been a move away from adversarial models of conflict-resolution in domestic issues such as divorce and custody of children.'

Security and human rights
'We are particularly concerned about popular attitudes to immigrants, 'travellers' and Muslims, and will seeks ways of protecting their security, freedoms, opportunities for advancement, and status within our society.'

General Election 2015 - Manifesto

By declaring that the quest for Peace is the central issue in politics, the Peace Party has set a new standard through which all of the problems in society will be solved.Putting our faith in the good nature of human beings and trusting in their ability to work hard together and as individuals to develop a more compassionate, a more idealistic, a more positive way forward, the Party is showing that we can do it! 

Much of our political debate is conducted in a spirit of negativity, mistrust and hostility. The Peace Party believes that there is a better way, that people are capable of compassion, kindness and generosity and it is this belief that informs all of our policies.The two areas that bring these ideas into sharpest focus are war and poverty. To put it simply, our ultimate objective is to eliminate both of these scourges and, in the process, release vast resources for the benefit of humanity.With your help and the help of other peace movements throughout the world, we could radically improve the situation. 

Foreign Affairs and Defence 

We should focus on bringing PEACE and security to the world through dialogue, trade, co-operation and humanitarian assistance. This would be vastly superior to deploying military force. NO intervention in others' wars. 

Climate Change 

Our aim is to reduce atmospheric carbon dioxide to help slow down global warming and climate change by fully developing all forms of non-polluting energy. 

Poverty, Inequality 

Our aim is to eliminate the huge and growing disparity in income between rich and poor. The structure of taxation will be changed to correct this grave injustice.The UK is a rich country but many are forced to live in abject poverty. A basic income for all adults would allow everyone to have a decent standard of living and make a major contribution to solving social problems. 

Education, including Schools 

End student fees! Ensure that properly funded, free education at all levels is available for everyone throughout life. 

Human Rights Act 

All laws must be based on the basic human rights as defined by the European Convention on Human Rights which is itself based on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The Peace Party supports the Human Rights Act. 

Race Relations and Immigration 

Immigrants are not the problem! They enrich our culture and our economy and should be welcomed and celebrated. There must be compassionate and just policies on asylum and migration. The Peace Party recognises that the political, social and economic circumstances leading to people leaving their homes are partially caused by the imbalances of wealth in Europe and beyond. We would seek ways to work with other countries in order to help treat the issue at its root. 

National Health Service 

The NHS is one of the best and most cost-effective in the world. It must continue to be fully funded by the government. NO privatisation - NO profits. 

Housing 

A housing programme should be in existence to ensure that everyone has a home of their own to rent or buy at prices they can afford.

http://peacepartyuk.blogspot.co.uk/2015/04/our-2015-manifesto.html

Their 2015 manifesto was recently posted on the party's blog. It outlines very clearly their beliefs and what they are trying to change within the government. They mostly consist of treating people fairly and humanely, and helping out the less fortunate. They also are strongly against oppression of certain marginalised groups.

I will sum these policies up in a later post.

The following is content taken from a Telegraph article about the Peace Party.

Key pledges of the Peace Party

• Free local transport for all
• Reducing pollution
• Cutting oil consumption
• Community service for "most" offenders, rather than jail sentences
• A fairer voting system
• Higher taxes for the wealthy
• People to take control of the media
• Free university education
• Give up Trident nuclear deterrent
• Withdraw from all military alliances

"People say 'obviously everyone wants peace', but they talk as if it will never happen," said Mr Holgate. "They speak of peace as though it is something that can only come when all war is ended, but we are keen to talk about peace as a process, as opposed to merely a 'distant goal that we seek', as Martin Luther King said."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/general-election-2015/11527178/Free-tai-chi-and-dance-classes-meet-the-political-party-promoting-world-peace-in-General-Election-2015.html

An interesting perspective from one of their candidates is brought to light in this article, saying that people see the idea of 'peace' as something far away and unable to be reached. This sounds like something that could be visually represented in a logo.

Further::

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-32167563?ns_mchannel=social&ns_campaign=bbc_politics&ns_source=twitter&ns_linkname=news_central

https://twitter.com/daily_politics/status/585432503810334721

Rebranding // Political party research

I have researched political parties that aren't in the mainstream light to see which one is most deserving of a rebrand. A lot were only representing one particular view such as legalising marijuana or boycotting the voting systems or existing parties. These following organisations are ones I thought have interesting or alternative views and solid policies.



Animal Welfare Party
http://www.animalwelfareparty.org/about/

'The UK political party for people, animals and the environment'

The values this party holds are to mostly bring justice to animals and improve how we are treating the environment - something I can get behind and which is often overlooked in politics. However, I think that their logo is effective and flows well.



Pirate Party
https://www.pirateparty.org.uk

Promoting the right to take part in our shared culture and increasing access to culture is a key Pirate Party aim.

In a country of physical barriers, many find the online world a place to reclaim some freedom. But here too we are increasingly to be watched and restricted, while government and courts gather powers to disconnect us, block websites and monitor what we say and do.

The values of the Pirate party are intriguing and quite controversial.  Focusing mainly on government surveillance and the restriction of access to certain materials, they also have typical left wing views.

Their brand and website seem quite strong, and seem to have a cult following due to the crackdown on torrent websites as of late. This means that maybe they don't need a rebrand as much as other parties. I also get a negative connotation from the name, it seems quite obnoxious referring to themselves as 'pirates'...



Peace Party
http://www.peaceparty.org.uk/

Much of our political debate is conducted in a spirit of negativity, mistrust and hostility. The Peace Party believes that there is a better way, that epople are capable of compassion, kindness and generosity and it is this belief that informs all of our policies.The two areas that bring these ideas into sharpest focus are war and poverty. To put it simply, our ultimate objective is to eliminate both of these scourges and, in the process, release vast resources for the benefit of humanity.

I like the sound of the Peace party, as they are trying to end violence and people living in bad conditions - both quite selfless values.

War is a huge issue all over the world that seems ridiculous when there are strict laws against violence in all societies - what message is this giving out? Why is violence so easily turned to solve things? Does it really solve anything? War also costs governments vast amounts of money every year, which could be put to much better use.

The party's branding could be hugely improved, and doesn't have a proper logo or clear outlines.

Brief outline: Rebranding a political party

Rebranding Brief

For my practical outcome, I am going to rebrand a small political party that hasn't been exposed much in the mainstream media. I will pick a party that I believe could really benefit from a rebrand, and is deserving of more attention.

The rebranding will be informed by my essay and the political branding research I undertook, which was mostly based on the non-visual side of branding. It covered language and connotations used to create a strong and trusted political brand. This follows on from this by tackling how to put these methods into practice, and also how to visually reflect and portray a political party.

It will also be informed by practical research I will undertake in the area of politics and also a certain political party, so that I can successfully capture their ethics and policies.

My ethics and personal beliefs is something that comes in to play as a designer, and is an issue a lot of people in the industry face. By taking this into account I will choose a small political party that aligns with my own beliefs, and that I believe is an organisation that could impact society positively.

The outcome will be in the form of brand guidelines. This will outline in detail the use of branding and language throughout the brand, and how it is to be used in different contexts.