Client: FMC Corporation
Discipline: Logo Design, Brand Identity
Design a logo and brand system for the Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) at FMC that showcase each groups unique identity while also maintaining a connection to the FMC Corporation brand.
This project has spanned across 5 years and I’ve enjoyed working with each ERG committee. It's been fun diving into what makes them unique while also noting the similar themes that run throughout the company.
This project has been one of the most rewarding experiences from the standpoint of using visuals and a brand identity to unite a group of people. Over the past five years I’ve had the privilege of sitting down with various ERGs at FMC Corporation to discuss how they would like to portray themselves through a logo.
THE DESIGN PROCESS
At the beginning of every project, I took time to meet with the group and discuss their values and what is important to them. We talk about things like symbols, color, etc. For example, the Asian Zone of Networking Group specifically did not want to use the color red because they wanted to expand the view of Asian culture past China. With the Indigenous People of the World group the symbol of the medicine wheel and a feather was extremely important to incorporate into their visual identity.
After meeting with and gathering notes from the groups, I typically did a bit of research on my own and then started sketching. Sometimes on my iPad, sometimes paper and sometimes whatever napkin happened to be in front of me at the moment!
With these particular logo projects, I developed three strong concepts from my sketches and presented them to the committee, showing them different lockups, sizes, etc. I don't always offer three concepts as fully fleshed out as the below images show, but with these logos, I felt it incredibly important for the concepts to be understood at a higher level before the group made a choice.
Once we move through revision rounds and land on a logo, I provided each group with a digital package of all the different logos. Also included in the package are brand guidelines to help each group get the most out of their new identity.
CASE STUDY: LATINX
Let's take a look at what this design process looks like from start to finish.
The LatinX Employee Resource Group initially came to me wanting a touch-up on the logo that they already had. However, the original logo was very complex and did not translate well when the size was reduced, or in instances when it needed to be one-color or black/white. For these reasons, we decided to begin a complete logo redesign.
The LatinX group expressed that multiple colors, and an element of play were important to them. The symbolism of a tree also held significance. "the roots symbolize we come from similar origins “roots.” The leaves represent the diversity within our (LatinX) community with its identity, culture, and traditions."
After meeting and learning more about the group, I got to work on the initial sketches, using procreate on my iPad.
Once I felt that there were three strong concepts emerging, I fleshed them out a little further and presented the concepts to the group.
The LatinX group was leaning towards option 1 and 2 with a few modifications. They didn't feel the the "X" in option 1 translated clearly enough and wanted to see something that was a little more crisp and clean. They loved the tree in option 2 but did not want a space between the N and X and felt that the green was overwhelming. They felt that option 3 was just a little too playful and were able to rule it out. With their excellent feedback, I focused in on option 1 and 2, started cleaning them up, and applying the changes. Round two looked like this:
The LatinX group unanimously decided on option 1 as they felt it was BOTH playful and corporate. They added one technical change and wanted to take out "Latin Excellence" feeling that it was too redundant. With that change, I was able to provide them with their final logo package. I added a fun gif where the leaves of the tree change colors for special use cases.
The final logo package included all twelve variations of the logo, an editable file of the logo, an animated gif, and their brand guidelines.
