Brand Guidance
Our Brands Background
In 2017 the organisation, then known as the National Association of Decorative and Fine Arts Societies (NADFAS), changed its operating name to The Arts Society. After 50 years, we needed to evolve to keep up with changing times in order to reach out to more people in more places.
We wanted something that better communicated who we are, what we do and what we mean to our members. A big part of that is social, hence: ‘Society’. And an even bigger part is the arts, thus: ‘The Arts’.
Even though we now look and sound a little different, we still offer the same services as before: through our excellent lectures we provide welcoming opportunities for our members to discover and connect to the arts and each other. We also ensure that heritage has a future through conservation and preservation, and we continue to support the skills of tomorrow’s artists and makers. The belief that the arts are essential to enriching people’s lives will always be at the very heart of who we are.
Brand Guidelines
A brand is not just a logo or a strap line. A brand is a set of beliefs, goals and values that guides an organisation, its decisions and communications, both internally and externally.
To establish and maintain a strong brand for The Arts Society we need to ensure that everything we do follows these guidelines. This document has been developed to provide anyone creating visual communications for The Arts Society with clear guidelines on how the visual identity components can be used.
The aim for the brand identity is to create a strong, coherent and recognisable look that helps to engage with our diverse audiences. Please download the brand guidelines below:
"A brand is not just a logo or a strap line. A brand is a set of beliefs, goals and values that guides an organisation, its decisions and communications, both internally and externally"
Describing The Arts Society
This description, or 'elevator pitch', helps communicate who we are, what we do and why we do it. It can be tailored - used in full or in part - to suit your desired use.
‘The Arts Society brings people together through a shared curiosity for the arts. Our events provide welcoming places – locally, nationally and globally – to hear expert lecturers share their specialist knowledge about the arts.
Our 60,000+ members contribute to and preserve our artistic heritage through volunteering and grants. The belief that the arts have the potential to enrich peoples’ lives is at the heart of everything we do. We inspire, we do, we give.’
Tone of Voice
Tone of voice is the way in which we write and speak; what we say and how we say it. Having a tone of voice doesn’t mean we all sound the same. It’s a springboard for our imagination and creativity. It gives us the confidence to write our own materials rather than relying on copying and pasting the varying quality of other sources.
The more consistent our tone of voice is, the more likely our community will recognise and understand us as the people who enrich peoples lives through the arts. The way we write and speak should reflect our brand values. Consistency will also develop through sharing and asking colleagues to do a sense and tone check, especially when a communication is going to multiple recipients.
What makes our tone of voice distinctive? In the same way as thinking about our community, it’s useful to think about The Arts Society as a person with a distinct personality that we are seeking to convey in any conversation. Our personality is underpinned by our brand values. If we were to meet The Arts Society they would be informed, responsive, warm, personable, sociable, cosmopolitan, curious and imaginative.
To help us think about tone of voice we've broken it down into 5 things to remember.