Skills group

In 2012, PSC Training and Development and its seven associated divisions were amalgamated and subsequently renamed and rebranded as Skills Group. This allowed the organisation to be promoted as a single, unified training provider. Graded outstanding by Ofsted, it is now one of the south west’s largest independent training agencies, offering high quality, specialist training services across six different industry sectors.

A series of individual illustrations and colour pallets were developed to represent each of these industry sectors, together with creating the Group’s brand image and a set of sub-brands. The illustrations are skillfully designed so that they can be used in isolation, or combined to form one large colourful picture for Skills Group’s own marketing pieces. The overall design theme cleverly adopts elements from the original PSC Training and Development logo, providing continuity and reassurance.

The Inside Story

First, we needed to thoroughly understand all the reasons behind the rebrand, to assess all the existing marketing collateral, to research known and likely competitors and to be aware of staff reactions to the changes. To this end, we talked to key stakeholders – including managers, staff, apprentice employers, the apprentices themselves and other interested parties.

The Skills Group Logo

The initial design concepts for the Group logo were put forward to focus groups to gauge initial reactions before the proposals were taken forward. The sub-brands and describers were then designed in parallel, together with the individual colour pallets, and the sector specific illustrations that combine to create the whole picture.

Building the Brand Collateral

A set of detailed brand guidelines were created to form the corner stone of all future applications.

“Skills Group has gone from strength to strength in terms of our brand awareness in the region and the brand identity that Logo designed has really been key to make that happen. As we have very different target groups – from corporates to youngsters – the identity had to appeal to both groups as well as be flexible enough to incorporate a variety of sub brands, all of which was achieved with the new logo.”