GDS:
The Government Digital Service
Role:
Art Director > Lead Designer > Corporate Internal Comms
The Government Digital Service design and protect the user experience of digital government for everyone. They’re known for their ability to make things happen: to deliver exceptional digital initiatives at pace, right from the centre of government.
When I first joined the team there was no clear design direction for us to work with, giving us a clean slate to start from. I conducted a full design audit, looking to understand how we communicate across various channels, what other government organisations are doing (and how they’re doing it better than us) as well as looking at individual design elements like logo, type and design assets, understanding if, and how, they are helping us with our overall mission at GDS: to be the welcoming front door into government.
After presenting to The SLT and key stakeholders to get buy-in for the project, it was then my responsibility to come up with a new design direction to use within internal comms; all while trying to create a friendlier, more vibrant appeal for our digital arm of government. The design requirements were to keep the ‘GDS blue’ very much at the centre but to make it feel more modern and ‘enticing’ while maintaining accessibility standards. I set out to create branding which celebrated our digital DNA — weaving digital colours into our GDS blue and adding 3D elements to create depth, while also locking the logo up into an accessible and recognisable asset.
Brand guidelines
