Good design is a force for good
Dean Hazelgrove, founder and strategic creative director at Collective Objective, discusses his agency’s Transform Awards-winning work for International Grammar School. The project underlined his belief in values, goals and progressive ideas.
“You’ve captured the best of us and we are all just so inspired!”
—Shauna Colnan, principal, International Grammar School (IGS)
“I’m moved by it. I can see my own child in it. It draws me in.”
—IGS teacher and parent
“It feels more connected to dance and language, more us.”
—IGS student
These quotes were sourced after the school’s successful brand refresh.
Because the refresh was anchored in the community’s voice, it led to a community-owned, community-shaped brand. We asked plenty of questions, we listened, we paid close attention and an engaged IGS community gave us the essence of the new brand.
“Partnering with Collective Objective has been a game-changer for IGS,” said Clare Bailey, director of business, IGS. “They took extensive research and turned it into tangible world-class assets across multiple channels and environments.”
We’ve been partners with IGS for nearly three years now. It’s a clear and vibrant example of my belief that, when done the right way, in collaboration with the right people, good design can make the world a better place. Because good design is a force for good.
A better way
Collective Objective is almost five years old now. But that belief in the power of design has deep origins.
After weaving my way through various design roles across a 20+ year career in the digital, marketing, advertising and retail worlds, I realised that design was the common thread to create real, meaningful change. Yes, it can be used just to sell things, but why not aim higher and push harder?
Through design, I could genuinely help businesses craft the strategic foundations of who, what, how and why they do what they do. From there, we could work together to make them become better versions of themselves and deliver positive impact.
What’s in a name? Quite a lot
As is usually the case in branding projects, a big challenge was how to say all of the above in a simple, memorable way.
I like to think we did pretty well in solving that (if you have a naming challenge, give us a shout).
Collective Objective is a name that works pretty hard – it tells you almost everything you need to know about us, and it also captures the positive possibilities of good design.
Collective helps people understand upfront that we’re united by the values, goals and progressive ideas that we share with like-minded individuals, businesses and groups that aim to positively impact our world.
Objective helps communicate our obsession, which involves using the power of creativity to design meaningful brand experiences to help meet our clients’ goals. We’re committed to doing this in a way that’s good for society, the environments in which we live and our planet. And, like those we partner with, we walk the talk: Collective Objective is a certified B Corp and a 1% for the Planet member.
Opportunities are all around us
If you’re a designer reading this and you’re wondering how you can use good design as a force for good, it’s actually easier than you think.
Do that thing all designers are good at, be curious. Have conversations. Ask questions. See what’s happening in the world. You’d be surprised how often that’s all it takes for opportunities to arise.
Another thing to keep in mind is that positive contributions come in all different forms. A community-focused school. A not-for-profit venture. An ingenious invention. A product or service that just makes people feel happy.
Whatever it is, if something's genuinely making a positive contribution, we want to use our skills to get behind it. If that sounds like you, let's chat about setting a Collective Objective.
