Since July 1983, the Victorian AIDS Council/Gay Men’s Health Centre has stayed at the forefront of raising awareness of HIV/AIDS related issues as well as those of the broader LGBTI community. Part of this success can be attributed to the organisation’s ability to adapt to developments in a number of areas including: HIV research, biomedical prevention, advocacy, community needs and service provision.
Continuing to evolve in a perpetually changing community landscape, the Victorian AIDS Council / Gay Men’s Health Centre identified the need for a formal evaluation of its brand. A series of consultations with volunteers, organisation members, people living with HIV, employees, stakeholders and the community were conducted. The insights and findings from these informed a brand strategy for the future.
As a result, the Victorian AIDS Council/Gay Men’s Health Centre is officially launching its rebrand as the ‘Victorian AIDS Council’ or ‘VAC’ for short and adopting a new logo in place of the previous brand. The new iconography is largely inspired by the red ribbon featured in the previous logo and aims to be a contemporary solution that is direct and distinctive.
For many, this evolution was already taking place organically as many in the community have already referred to the organisation as ‘the V.A.C.’ or as one word – ‘VAC’. The simplification from VAC/GMHC to VAC is, in some ways, merely an acknowledgement of the accepted nominal form our community uses already.
In recognition of VAC’s history, the new brand will be accompanied by the tagline ‘Working Together’. From the beginning, everyone connected to VAC, and indeed the organisation itself, has been enriched and strengthened by our relationship and collaboration with others.
VAC’s President Greg Carter has explained further, “The new organisational brand represents a unification of all aspects of our work, our associations and our strategy. Integrating all these elements into a single unified symbol will allow us a great degree of flexibility in terms of future usage and meaning.”
He goes on to say, “The new brand draws from our past, but looks to the future with an expansive, dynamic identity that is evocative of stability, unity and strength.”
VAC CEO Simon Ruth went on to say, “VAC is the oldest AIDS organisation in the country with a proud tradition of service, activism and advocacy. Our new organisational identity gives us a great opportunity to tell our story anew.”
Converting all the occurrences of VAC’s previous logo and name in print, online and branded materials will be no small task, but changes have already taken place at VAC’s website and social media assets. With a large involvement in the coming international AIDS 2014 conference next month, VAC looks forward to introducing the rest of the world to their new brand identity.
For more information, visit: www.vac.org.au for details.
Image: courtesy of the VAC