Why I need to simplify The Care Combine message
I’ve never found it easy to describe The Care Combine in a few words. I can explain the basic idea in two or three short paragraphs. But once I get going with all the benefits of this new approach to dementia care … well, it’s hard to stop me. Ask any of my kids; I see their eyes roll as I start laying out my plan to them for the umpteenth time.
(As soon as your eyes start rolling or you feel the eyelids beginning to droop with his next paragraph, you have my permission to jump straight to the next one.)
— Do you realise how many people The Care Combine is going to help? It’s not just people with dementia and their family carers. It’s people like you — adult children — worried about their aging parents and terrified by the costs and the heartbreak of residential care. It’s for the NHS, as we free up hospital beds and reduce surgery visits. (Still with me?) It’s for cash-strapped local councils and the Government, as we fix the major problem in adult social care and enable many unpaid carers to return to work. Best of all, just like the NHS, Care Combine services will be free at the point of use — without requiring major Government investment. (You read it all? Well done.)
You can see the problem can’t you? There’s so much to unpack here, so much to explain. For example, how exactly will we free up hospital beds? How will local councils save money? Questions like these need proper answers, or I’m just spouting hot air. The Care Combine needs a book, explaining how the whole scheme comes together. I’m writing that book here, article by article.
There’s a second problem. There are so many different potential beneficiaries — the dementia patient, the carer, the extended family, the NHS, local councils. the Government. And each of those beneficiaries has different interests. So when I present the Care Combine to a group of family members, they may have no interest whatsoever in the ways we can help central Government … and vice versa. I need to be sure that I match my message to my audience, deliver it, and keep it short. Otherwise people are just going to think I’m an old bore. Right kids? (That’s my kids I’m talking to.)
Logo research
But designing a logo for The Care Combine this week has really helped to clarify my thinking and simplify my message.
I started with a bit of research. Which are the truly great logos, the ones we all know and remember? What makes them special? I found an article on the Frontify website, ‘The best logos of all time‘, packed with fascinating snippets about logos like the Nike ‘swoosh’ (Nike originally paid the designer just $35), Fedex ((I’d never noticed the use of ‘negative space’ to create the arrow between the ‘e’ and the ‘x’), and Disney (it’s actually founder Walt Disney’s real signature). But what came home to me was that the best logos are uncomplicated, with colour used sparingly, they’re instantly recognisable, and their design sends a clear message — ‘This is who we are’.
Working with AI. Really?
Now I’m no designer, so next I turned to AI for help. I felt a little guilty about this. As a creator myself, I have very mixed feelings about using AI to create, thereby depriving a human designer of work. In the end though, I persuaded myself that since I can’t afford to pay a designer until my project starts generating an income, I wasn’t depriving anyone of a living. But the AI debate is one I’ll return to at another time.
I found a number of AI logo generators – you provide a set of instructions, and they create a logo for you. The one I chose is called SocialSight AI Logo Generator, which allowed me to create and download 10 free logo designs per day.
Down below there are six results. From what you already know of the Care Combine project, what do these logos suggest to you? Which is the one that you think fits my project best, and why? Is that one the same as your favourite? When you’ve had a chance to think, carry on reading below and I’ll tell you my reactions.
AI’s candidate logos
Care Combine essentials
Before we continue, let me remind you of the basic idea behind the Care Combine, that three-paragraph description I talked about.
- The Care Combine is a network of activity centres (The Bine) where people with dementia spend their daytime hours each day — just as children go to school and adults go to work. Except that The Bine is open for 7 days a week, not 5.
- People won’t just be parked at the Bine! Whatever their disabilities, people still want to feel useful and engaged. So we’ll get them involved in purposeful, enjoyable projects and activities – for their community, for family and friends, for each other.
- Some will need lots of help, others far less. We’ll provide exactly the assistance and care that’s needed, with a professional team supported by plenty of helpers. Because the normal family carers will be volunteering at The Bine for 2 days a week – that’ll get their loved ones FREE membership. And it’ll leave carers free to work, study, or pursue their interests for the other 5 days of the week.
Designing a logo – my reactions
My instruction was: ‘Create an abstract symbol, suggesting a community where people are mutually supportive when they do things together.’
I liked the artistry of the result, but it did suggest a pair of old folks walking along together, which is precisely the impression I don’t want to create. It also looks like 2 links in a chain — being locked in, again not the right message.
Candidate 2
I added to the instruction: ‘a community of at least 3 people’ and ‘Put a caring heart in the centre of the logo’.
I liked the vibrancy of the colours, although perhaps the best logos are simpler. Somehow though, this view from above made the figures seem to be sitting down. They didn’t look active. It didn’t look fun.
Candidate 3
I changed the instruction asking for ‘a 2-colour abstract symbol’ and ‘people are mutually supportive doing active things together’.
This was the best so far. I thought it looked classy, with more space for the heart. And there was definitely a feeling of activity about it, with the two blue helpers supporting the green patient (even if that’s not the ratio I envisage in The Bine).
Candidate 4
What if we added more figures to the logo, to emphasise the community aspect. I suggested 5, and scrapped the 2-colour requirement.
I didn’t like this at all. We seemed to be back to the overhead view again, and again my first thought was that the figures are sitting. Activity has disappeared again. The simplicity has gone too.
Candidate 6
A new instruction: ‘Create a simple abstract symbol in the shape of a heart, suggesting an active community, where people do mutually supportive, fun things together.
This was it! By making the heart the frame of the logo, we’d allowed AI to create a fun face, with 2 eyes, a nose and a laughing mouth. Much better. Easily recognisable and memorable. At the same time, the purple figure is supported by the two outer figures, who certainly look active. Purple is a colour often used to represent dementia, so that worked as well. And there’s another way to look at the picture: I can see the purple figure walking out into a brand new world, with the other two figures waving and cheering at the side.
All good, but I was going to make one last change, this time not calling upon AI, but by editing Candidate 6 with a colour change.
Candidate 5
I wanted to see how the same design looked if I reduced the colours. In the end, I preferred the original AI version with the orange and blue. It allows me to make something of the symbolism. ‘The purple represents the dementia patient, the orange the professional team, while the blue is the carer volunteer. I was happy with Candidate Logo 6.
The Winner
So how did the logo I’d selected look with text added?
Yes, I liked it.
Your opinion?
Do you like it? Should we align those eyes? Change the colours? Or try again? Maybe you’re better at designing a logo than me and AI combined — I know we have artists and designers in our audience, people with a better critical eye than mine. If that’s you, please don’t be shy to step up and tell me. I know I’m going to need a lot of design help and advice as this project develops.
How designing a logo has changed my marketing strategy
I said in my headline that designing the logo has simplified my marketing strategy. It has. I realise now what my core message needs to be. It’s the simple message that we convey in the logo:
We enable people with dementia to do fun, meaningful activities, supported by professionals and volunteer helpers in a safe caring community.
All the other benefits and explanations can follow on from here. I’ll select them depending on who I’m talking to, and stop trying to hit my audience with all of them at the same time. If it’s a carer, for example, I might explain how The Care Combine gives them back their freedom for 5 days a week. If it’s a family, I might explain how The Bine makes it possible for a parent diagnosed with dementia to stay with them at home for a few more years, instead of going into expensive residential care.
These are the kinds of benefits I’ll consider in more detail, but one at a time, in the next articles in the Care Combine series.
One Response
Good evening Alan.
Hope all is well your end!
My favorites were number 3 and 6. Number 3 because it looked sort of clean and sofisticated, but it is perhaps a little too clean and not as noticeable as some of the other. Like the three colours on number 6. It is simple and easy recogniceable with a pop of colour. Can you give us an example of what it would look like with the eyes aligned? Maybe as it is you might associate it with carers/parents with a child in the middle. Not that it was my first thought. It was only when I started to analyse the image with what you are after and wondered what it would look like with eyes aligned. Will it be too “square”, or loose its embracing look? Just my sleepy thoughts ….so better off to bed. Take care, night night zzz