University of Melbourne:
Professional Development for Organisations
Print and digital
Typography
Infographics
Brand application
Publication Design
Concept development
Professional Development for Organisations (PDO, formerly MSPACE) is shifting its focus to the B2B professional development market, offering learning programs tailored to organisations and government looking to upskill their employees. While PDO will continue offering courses to individuals (B2C), its primary focus is now on B2B workforce development at scale.
To better understand market perceptions and identify growth opportunities, PDO engaged an external agency to research B2B decision-making and effective marketing strategies. The research explored:
How organisations select external training providers
Preferred marketing channels and trusted information sources
Reactions to the PDO brand name and narrative
A key finding was that the ‘Melbourne Professional Education’ name lacked clarity and was not clearly understood. Stakeholders indicated they would trust MPE more if it was explicitly linked to the University of Melbourne’s strong reputation. Following discussions and workshops, it was deemed that ‘Professional Development for Organisations’ as the clearest external facing text identifier for PDO’s B2B offer.
AVGD was engaged to develop the visual identity for PDO following the guides of the University of Melbourne’s masterbrand application. Working together with the University’s brand team and the client we were able to provide a distictive and flexible visual identity system which sat under the University’s masterbrand. Our design recommendation involved text identifyer application, colour pairings and usage guidelines, typographic style, photographic direction and communication tone of voice.
Success as defined by the client was, “to create a disctinct application of the University’s masterbrand visual identity that resonates with both internal and external audiences and crystallises who we are, what we do, and iseffective across our marketing mix and audience touch points.”
A brand toolkit was developed for Professional Development for Orginsations, which indicates the key elements of their visual identity system.
Brand application should always use the University’s module as a guide for design. The brand-first, content-led approach can be used as a formulated guide on how to approach brand-first, content-led design. To reinforce the connection to the University, design elements and colour hierarchy are prioritsed in the following order.
University of Melbourne Logo
Text identifier / CTA module (Kookaburra light)
Heritage blue module
Kookaburra dark with/without text module OR Image module
Image module OR Kookaburra dark with/without text module
The text identifier for Professional Development for Organisations can be applied as a flexible piece of content. It can appear beside or above the University logo or as content leading the massage. It is flexible and adaptable to suit channel an purpose, whilst visually represented in a consistent way.
