Merlin rebrands
Howard Lake | 22 November 2010 | News
International medical aid agency Merlin has worked with not-for-profit branding specialist Spencer du Bois to update its brand and create a new visual identity.
Research for the charity, selected last week as one of The Times Christmas Appeal 2010 charities, showed that, even though the organisation was held in high regard by those who know it, the Merlin brand failed to convey the full breadth of its work.
Max du Bois, Executive Director at Spencer du Bois said: “The crucial part of the project was to create a brand that combines emergency relief efforts and the underestimated work to rebuild health systems. One that would relevantly engage a broad range of audiences with very different needs, from the UK public to government health departments in the countries where Merlin works.”
The new logo focuses on the breadth and depth of emergency and longer term health care services by combining their iconic representations in a large ‘M’ made up of instantly recognisable symbols, such as hands, hearts, medical aid, clean water and shelter.
Claire Biscard, Design Director at Spencer du Bois, added: “We worked with Merlin to develop a collection of individual icons that provide a narrative to the incisive and practical manner in which they operate and the life-saving services they deliver. The icons combine to create the Merlin ‘M’ and evolve into a distinctive, flexible and animated brand language that communicates on all levels. It’s an identity that will take them to the next level in awareness, reach and fundraising.”
Imogen Ward, Merlin’s Director of Marketing and Communications, said: “This unique combination of the immediate and the longer term, the medical and the wider health care provision is, I feel, captured in this image in a compelling and creative way. Merlin is a charity loved by its existing donors but we need more public support! We plan to double the ratio of funds from the public over the next few years and this piece of work is crucial to our future development. I have every confidence that it will help us reach our ambitious goals.”
www.merlin.org.uk
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.