Logo Design – NCPDP Foundation
THE NEED
The NCPDP Foundation—a nonprofit associated with the National Council for Prescription Drug Programs (NCPDP) —needed a new logo after undergoing a marketing assessment and developing a new marketing plan. The Write Place helped lead these efforts and was then honored to be brought in to create the logo.
One of the key objectives for this new logo was to distinguish the Foundation from its parent company. A new color palette, logomark, and fonts were part of achieving this goal. The NCPDP Annual Technology & Business Conference was just around the corner, so the timeline (while very doable) required quick choices and efficient design work.
OUR APPROACH
A somewhat unique consideration for our design team was that the color palette needed to complement the brand colors of the parent company, while still giving the Foundation its own distinctive tone and branding.
The Write Place first needed to establish what elements of the parent company the Foundation would carry over, as well as the tone the logo should convey. Our team worked closely with the NCPDP marketing team to flesh out these details and understand the company’s vision. The discussions and choices were then translated into a collection of color palettes and fonts that the Write Place presented to the client. The color palettes were heavily inspired by the warm atmosphere of the Southwest, where the NCPDP Foundation is based.
After a color palette and font were selected, the Write Place moved on to the sketching stage. A WP designer completed over 50 on-paper sketches before transitioning to Adobe Illustrator to whittle them down to a more manageable number. Our design team worked internally for several days with different variations of dozens of logo concepts before finally landing on five options they believed best represented the tone and style the NCPDP Foundation was targeting.
The logo options were presented to the Foundation team, who chose two concepts they wished to see adjustments on. Meetings were held via videoconference, and WP designers screen-shared while adjusting logo elements as the Foundation team made suggestions, which helped the project progress quickly.
The subtly rounded, stacked hexagons that make up the logomark were inspired by themes NCPDP was using as part of its own recent brand refresh. Once this final logo was settled on, the Write Place team cleaned up the vector art and created the final files. The color variations (white, black, CMYK, etc.) and file types provided to the NCPDP Foundation team were based on their web and print needs.
In the end, the collaboration between the Write Place and the NCPDP Foundation team resulted in a unique logomark that set the Foundation on a path toward rebranding success. To increase buzz about the new logo, the Write Place suggested a logo reveal contingent on a set amount of money being raised during the Foundation’s presentation at the NCPDP Annual Technology & Business Conference. NCPDP members rose to the occasion, raising over $15,000 in donations, and the new logo was greeted with enthusiasm.
BY THE NUMBERS
- 8 weeks from job start to completed logo
- 5 online collaboration and review meetings
- 50+ conceptual sketches
- 5 concepts presented to client
CLIENT
NCPDP Foundation
DELIVERABLES
THE REACTION
“Lexie and her team transformed our vision into a stunning reality. Their creativity and attention to detail exceeded our expectations and truly brought the NCPDP Foundation to life. The Write Place designer was able to take our feedback and apply it with master-level execution, and the entire team was open to our feedback, making the experience one we would happily do over. If you’re worried about the workload a brand redesign will cause, you should heavily consider hiring the Write Place—they will go above and beyond to support you!”