While the Co-operative Party is over 100 years old, for much of its history it lacked a clearly defined logo and consistent look-and-feel to its printed and digital materials.

As a result, many of the fonts, logos and colours used by local and national parties are there as a result of custom and practice, rather than any co-ordinated process.

With the Party’s second century now underway, and with our profile, membership and activity at its greatest in modern times, the time has come to refresh our brand so it better reflects our renewed sense of purpose and ambition as a Party.

In 2018 the NEC agreed to undertake a review of the Party’s brand to better reflect the Party’s ambitions for the future.

Following a competitive process, an agency was appointed to refresh the Party’s visual look-and-feel, including logo, as well as developing recommendations for the language we use to communicate the Party’s mission and its work.

After a year-long process involving members, party staff and elected representatives, a creative direction was agreed by the NEC, and a set of guidelines have been developed which set out the new, coherent brand identity.

Over the next few months, we’ll be working to roll-out the brand nationally, and assist local parties in doing so as well.

If talk of brands, visual identities and guidelines aren’t your thing, some of the ways you’ll see the new brand in action in coming months include:

• A new Party logo, which will be used anywhere you see the current party logo being used right now.
• Localised versions of the Party logo for each party council, as well as for our member-led networks. These new logos should replace any currently in use by your local party.
• A refreshed party website, incorporating the new logo and colour scheme
• A new line of party merchandise carrying the new logo and colour scheme on show at events and for sale online
• For the first time,a comprehensive set of document templates for meeting agendas and minutes, branch reports, letterheads, PowerPoint slides and much more, ready to download and use.
• Re-designed promotional materials carrying the new brand including pull-up banners, membership forms, the welcome letter/membership card sent to new members, and more.
• A re-design of the Pioneer, the Party member magazine, giving it a fresher, more modern feel.
• A facelift of all our social media profiles and content.

The new brand aims to develop and build on what works about the existing brand, rather than being a radical departure.

For example, the colour purple will remain our main colour, and the new logo draws on symbols and imagery that will be familiar to those of us co-operative movement, and which are historically associated with it. Hopefully the new brand will therefore come as a pleasant surprise rather than a shock.

The brand will be previewed in the Spring 2019 edition of the Pioneer, our member magazine, as well as online in mid-February. We will then formally launch the new brand and logo at ‘Common Decency’, our Spring Conference, on the 9th of March. You can register to attend here.

From March 2019, all local parties should begin using the new brand and materials wherever they can. However, we’re working to ensure this isn’t a complicated or expensive process:

• From February onwards, all local Parties will be able to order a Brand Starter Pack. The new pack will contain a roller banner, table cloth, membership forms and a range of other printed materials to get you started. The Pack will also include a USB stick pre-loaded with photos, videos, fonts and templates ready to customise, print and use.
• All the new templates for letterheads, fonts, meeting agendas and PowerPoint slide decks will be available to download from a new section of the Party Membership Hub, to be launched in early February.
• From March, new Party merchandise will be available to buy on the Party website via our online shop.
• A new ‘Brand Toolkit’, will be available. Intended for use by professional designers, the Toolkit will include everything those with access to professional design software needs to begin creating materials in line with the new brand.

From the start of March, you should use the new materials as soon as you are able to access them. Because many of the materials we use are digital and printed ‘as-needed’, if at all, the switch to the new brand should result in very little waste.

Over the past year the Party has also sought to minimise waste by gradually reducing the quantities of printed materials we order, and using up existing stock. If you have unused materials of your own, please use the next few months to use them up before the new brand is launched.