Finding the Right Look: Redesigning a Logo for My Heroes Network

August 18, 2014

Guest by RedStart Creative, Associate Members of Maryland Nonprofits

Read the original blog here…

This spring, Redstart Creative began work with My Heroes Network on a comprehensive branding and website package through our Jumpstart Program. Throughout this project we will be blogging on the process. Check out our first two blogs announcing them as the winner and the renaming effort. Next up is the logo…

Logos are an exciting and challenging process. My Heroes Network is a young organization and a logo will greatly help increase their visibility. It is very important for an organization to have a clear idea of who they are before designing a logo. To help with this we start all logo projects with a questionnaire to help dig deep into their mission. For My Heroes Network, we focused on who they serve, what they want people to feel when they see the new logo, and what results they want from the redesign.

After the questionnaire was complete we had a creative brainstorming meeting. At these meetings no ideas are too off the wall. It is all about sharing ideas as a team and evolving those ideas into concepts. We started with a discussion of the big picture of their mission and how those suffering from ADHD have brains that are wired differently but are not broken. My Heroes Network also brought up their necessary role as a place veterans, first responders, and their families can go to find life-saving resources.

After discussing concepts we talked about other logos that are in existence, from traditional to modern logos. This helps give a context for subjective words such as “edgy”, “bold” or “strong.” There was a strong preference for a color palate of muted red and blue. This patriotic color scheme subtlety reflects the audience My Heroes Network serves.

For iconography we focused on connections. We wanted the logo to reflect the connections in the brains of those suffering ADHD and the way My Heroes Network connects their clients to resources. The idea that came to the forefront of these discussions was to do a simplified brain graphic.
The end of this work is the logo pictured. It was very warmly received by the clients and will launch their new marketing and outreach efforts. The next step in our process is to design the website. Stay tuned for more updates on the 2014 Jumpstart project.

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