While Blast was creating the new brand, as many views as possible were considered. Like many public sector institutions, a strong part of the University’s culture is a deeply held belief in discussion and consultation.
At the outset, there were even suggestions from within the University that everyone – 2,500 staff members and more than 10,500 students – had a say in how the new identity should be developed.
The Communications Division knew this was totally impractical, but thought it was important nevertheless that everyone was engaged and felt involved in the process so that the new brand could be lived by staff and students alike.
Hiles says she learned from past experience how not to co-ordinate a design project. ‘In a previous role at another organisation I was involved in a re-branding project which was managed by the director but which suffered from a fundamental weakness: there was no input or involvement from the staff who would be working with it,’ she explains.
Hiles led a University team of three responsible for co-ordinating the design project under the direction of Rob Read, Director of Communications. This project team reported to a senior management team headed by the University's Vice Chancellor, Alasdair Smith, which had ultimate responsibility for approving the identity. Wider consultation with other groups of staff also occurred throughout the project.
