Canadian Helen Keller Centre
Rebrand
Challenges
The Canadian Helen Keller Centre (CHKC) is one of Canada’s leaders in providing services to the deafblind community and raising awareness of deaf-blindness nationally. The organization provides affordable housing, training and intervenor services to individuals who are deafblind. Despite the fact that the brand had just been a few years old, CHKC needed a refresh. The logo was confusing to individuals who weren’t familiar with the organization and focused on just one aspect of what they do. They wanted to re envision their brand with a modern feel that is accessible for all, a tool for building awareness, and an opportunity to speak to a wider audience.
Strategy
Our first step was our research and discovery phase (called Listen) to understand the organization, its clients and stakeholders, and to get a sense of how we could best engage with CHCK’s audiences throughout our rebranding process. As part of this phase, we facilitated a 90-minute kickoff discovery session, conducted interviews and workshops, and did comparative research. Once we consolidated our data, the information we gathered informed the development of the new brand.
Solutions
CHKC’s older logo highlighted the two-handed manual alphabet which is a form of sign language and a means of communication in the deafblind community. The new logo reference to the manual two handed alphabet many deafblind people use and features a simplified, modern feel using positive and negative space. When developing the logo, we listened to CHKC’s stakeholders and made sure that our designs were accessible and tactile. We’ve leveraged their existing brand colours with an emphasis on the use of blue to teal gradients in order to showcase a contemporary look for many years to come. The logo and brand developed reflects CHKC’s mission to empower and inspire confidence, using a clean modern design that is friendly, engaging and clearly represents their position as a strong representative for those who are deafblind. The client was thrilled with the logo, and we extended it to a full brand platform including a brand guidelines document, social media collateral, as well as stationary design (e.g., business cards, PowerPoint presentations, and letterheads).
