Visit South Devon

Brief

Visit South Devon was merging with the Heart of Devon but retaining its existing name to represent the new enlarged area. We were appointed to create their new brand identity, together with supporting work to assist with change management and stakeholder relations.

Solution

First we carried out research to understand what people understood South Devon to mean. Even in terms of geography there was little consensus, as the term had been used to represent a range of different areas over the years. We made the argument for a new South Devon that covered the entire southern half of the county, including East Devon and Dartmoor.

The research also led to a new strategy focused around the one thing that South Devon arguably does better than anywhere else in the UK - making people happy. The new identity is based on the new geographical area, combined with contemporary type, supporting graphics and icons aligned to a vibrant colour pallette, connecting the idea of happiness to the overall identity.

Having successfully presented the new identity to the region's tourism industry at their AGM, we created some simple guidelines and provided design support for the development of initial materials such as the website and visitor guide.

"Believe in ran a number of exploratory session with various stakeholders, to really understand the region, build a sense of ownership locally and help us to articulate our strengths in a more inspiring way. This made sure the resulting brand strategy was built on solid foundations. They then used this thinking to develop an inspiring new identity that has successfully repositioned Visit South Devon and increased our influence and reputation for effective marketing with members and visitors alike."

Sarah Stride, General Manager, Visit South Devon