Innovation on Wheels

Social Innovation on Wheels is a Non-Profit organisation based in Uganda, co-founded by Ugandan women who are dedicated to empowering disadvantaged rural women and girls.

Their mission is to help them break into traditionally male-dominated fields, driving progress in employment and job creation for women.

The following presentation is a visual showcase of design concepts, ideas, and solutions tailored specifically for this project and will provide a clear understanding of the proposed design. But first…

What is a logo?

When it comes to brand identification, a logo serves as the primary visual element that identifies a company, brand, or organisation. It’s often the first thing that people notice and remember.

A well-designed logo helps in instant brand recognition. It conveys a sense of professionalism and trust and can make a brand appear more established and credible, which is crucial for new or smaller businesses.

Logos are essential for standing out in a crowded marketplace. A unique logo helps a company distinguish itself from its competitors and helps consumers remember and recognise the brand.

For example, through colours, fonts, and imagery, a logo can evoke certain emotions or convey a message.

Logos can be used across various mediums – websites, business cards, products, advertisements, etc. Consistency in usage builds a strong brand presence and helps customers connect different products or services to a single brand.

Logos are part of a company’s marketing strategy, used in promotional material, advertising, and various marketing campaigns. A memorable logo can make marketing efforts more effective, and create a lasting impression.

Misconceptions

It must be intricate to be effective

Simplicity often makes a logo more versatile, memorable, and easily recognizable across various mediums.

A logo alone builds a brand

A brand is built on a variety of elements, including customer experiences, products or services, marketing strategies, and more. A logo is just one aspect of a brand’s identity.

It must embody everything

A good logo captures the essence of a brand rather than trying to tell the whole story.

It needs to follow trends

While staying current is important, overly trendy logos can become quickly outdated. A timeless design that reflects the brand’s core values tends to be more effective in the long run.

DIY logos are the same

While modern online tools have their place, they often lack the depth of understanding and creativity that a professional designer can bring to the table.

“ Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away. ”

– Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Word mapping

Word mapping is a technique where a designer explores the visual elements that can embody the meaning, message, or values conveyed by words related to a brand or concept.

The core elements are based on the design brief or existing brand assets, such as a website or social media presence. Doing this helps to see a much bigger picture, which translates into more possibilities and ensures that the logo is more than just a visual symbol.

After identifying the most relevant keywords, we can proceed to the next step.

Moodboarding

Moodboards serve as a visual inspiration that can provide a starting point for the design process.

Guidance

A steady beam of guiding light; Pathway that symbolises a journey; Compass pointing in a specific direction.

Career

Upwards extension, symbolising progression; The challenge and achievements of climbing; Blocks coming together to form a structure.

Empower

Sunrise over a horizon, new beginning; Seed growing and reaching its full potencial; Vertical movement symbolising advancement.

Gender Equality

Venus symbol; Balanced squale signifying equality and fairness, Braking stereotypes.

Typography

Modern san-serif typefaces such as Roboto and Inter (both mentioned in the design brief) have clean and simple designs that enhance legibility, particularly on screens.

They are versatile, adaptive, and neutral. Neue Haas Unica follows the same principle with additional characteristics from the famous Helvetica typeface that’s been used in many logotypes, such as Jeep, BMW, Motorola, Panasonic, Harley-Davidson, etc.

Colour Preferences

Purple, Army Green, Yellow, Gold, White, Black

Purple is often chosen for its noble and elegant appearance, and often associated with femininity, and can encourage innovation.

Green is a colour with positive connotations, often linked to nature, health, and balance. Its widespread use in various contexts reflects its versatility and the positive feelings it can evoke.

Yellow is a dynamic colour associated with optimism and positivity that can convey emotions and creativity.

Gold is frequently used to symbolise success, triumph, warmth, and elegance. However, in commercial and branding, it is mostly associated with luxury, sophistication, and high-end. In this brand’s context may not convey the right messages.

Final Concept

The core and most dominant element of the design is the Venus sign.

The extension gives it a vertical movement (elevation) symbolising growth and progress as a community and as an individual (middle figure).

Innovation on Wheels initials are hidden in the symbol. “I” in the middle, “O” on top, “W” at the bottom.

Minimalistic African drum symbolising the message that travels a great distance to stand united for the cause, and can inspire others beyond borders to take action.

Pattern

Social Media

Clothing

This is for you!

Who made it this far, who invested time and showed interest in my work. YOU are the reason why I push myself every day to be better at what I’m doing.

The next section is for you, if you ever thought - “Yeah, but what if I don’t like what I see?”.

Design is a process, and with Innovation on Wheels it was no different. Let’s see how the client’s feedback changed the design and led to a more fitting solution.