Designs by This Way Up create unified look for RCS

The Royal Commonwealth Society is rebranding with new designs by This Way Up.

The design group has streamlined the RCS’s branding by creating two main identities for the society, which will brand the organisation itself and its recently refurbished flagship members club, redesigned by Morey Smith (DW 3 February 2005).

Previously, the RCS has used up to eight separate logos, each of which were created by different designers and implemented as the organisation evolved over time.

The move to create the two new identities stemmed from a need to clarify the organisation’s positioning as both a charity and commercial body, says Rob Jordan, business development manager at The Commonwealth Club. This Way Up was appointed to the rebranding project in April following a three-way pitch.

The new identity features an image of coloured ribbons drawn together to form a globe, designed to represent the Commonwealth’s diversity. The identity launches this week at the RCS’s annual three-day international meeting.

‘This is a more dynamic and modern image, with lots of appeal. The previous identities needed rationalising,’ says Steve Harvey, managing partner at This Way Up.

The identity will roll out across 90 international branches of the RCS over the next six months. It will feature on all future promotional material, corporate literature and brochures. The society is also expected to redesign its website with the group in the autumn.