Exploring a new brand for a British institution
British Exploring Society
The client
British Exploring Society is a youth development charity founded on the belief that challenging experiences can change lives. By taking young people on expeditions to remote locations, they empower and equip young people with the courage, skills, resilience and determination to make the most of their future. The expeditions also see young people undertaking projects with content relevant to their lives and to the fragile environments that they explore.
The brief
Our brief was borne out of a strategic brand repositioning project, developed for British Exploring Society by Kate Wilson, of Kate Wilson Marketing.
We were asked to rebrand British Exploring Society, delivering a brand identity that reflected its three-pronged proposition (adventure, personal development and knowledge) and, visually, to make it fit for the future.
What we delivered
For the logo, we created a segmented circle – a graphic representation of the globe; a nod to the adventure which is the catalyst for British Exploring Society’s (BES) youth development work.
The three parts that make up the circle represent the three foundation stones of BES’s core proposition (personal development, adventure and knowledge). If one of these parts is missing, the circular form is incomplete, emphasising the importance of each part of the brand proposition in making up the whole.
The circular form alludes to sitting around a camp fire, which is at the heart of BES’s expeditions, as campfires provide a place to come together, draw warmth, share stories and reflect. The circle also emphasises the continuous nature of BES participants’ and leaders’ personal development journey: it doesn’t start or end with BES – BES simply plays a part.
The ‘find your fire’ descriptor plays a vital role in communicating the core mission of BES. It is a motivational call to action, capturing the opportunity BES provides its expedition participants and leaders to identify (‘find’) something life-defining from within themselves – as opposed to BES giving them something that they do not already possess. It also plays directly to the fire theme which runs through BES expeditions via its ‘fire diaries’, ‘fires’ (groups) and camp fires.
What the client said
“Sherlock are as pragmatic as they are creative, and it’s a winning combination. They produce stand-out work for ambitious organisations who need real solutions but who won’t settle for anything less than great design. They are generous and collaborative and they also fit the ‘perfect team’ formula of thinking big, getting sh*t done, and having fun.” Honor Wilson-Fletcher MBE, CEO, British Exploring Society
