International Power

The thought process

International Power, under the leadership of Bruce Levy, took an unusual approach to promoting their core values. Like others, they wanted their values to be part of everyday practice within the company. What differentiated them from others was that they wanted them to be tangible.

In response to the brief, I designed a very bright, strong, mark that could itself be used as the illustration of as well as the identity of the initiative.

The logo became a poster, and its three component parts became individual, smaller posters, working independently of each other or in combination to convey the initiative in its entirety. Posters were on walls throughout the plants and offices were they could be seen daily.

The managing director introduced his new initiative to the management at the 2008 annual meeting, held, that year, in the Lone Star state, Texas. I added the line TAKE THE LEAD and incorporated a star into the design of the give-aways.

Articulating the new core values in a visually engaging way helped the comms team integrate the principles into everyday life at the company. We found this way was far more effective than the traditional approach of having a mission statement or set of values exist only on the website or in corporate literature where it is largely ignored. The ACT values materials were highly visible, bright, distinctive and in plain site.

In 2009, the focus became teamwork and individual talent development. The existing logo design adapted naturally to reflect the new focus. By simply putting the T on a white circle while the other two remained on blue circles, made it appear larger and in the spotlight. Keeping the logo essentially the same meant that all the investment put into promoting the ACT logo to date was capitalized upon, and the solution for two future directions was also resolved.

ACT alt logos

The new focus on the T principles was introduced on the first night of the 2009 management meeting through a couple of games. (For more about the management team-building games, click here)

cube

These Rubik's cubes were custom imprinted so that the "T" would work as a practical metaphor for Teamwork. Both visually and in practice, you had to build the big T out of the many smaller, equal parts.

To highlight specific teamwork from within the company, I drew on my existing knowledge of the company from designing the monthly newsletter. Out of stories from the previous year, I created a series of six addititional posters that could be used at the meeting and then taken back home and put up in the various plants. Each one highlighted a different aspect of teamwork. The first example shows the flagship project where International Power supported the local volunteer fire fighters' efforts to build a new fire station; the second featured one of the many sponsored events staff participate in to raise money for charity; the third, an internal team that developed a groundbreaking solution to fixing a problem which saved the company approximately $1million.

The attendee booklet was designed as an engaging directory of all those attending the meeting, providing insight into the character of each attendee throught their personal contributions to the book. For this book they were asked to describe any person who embodied the Power of One for them. The cover concept complemented this by featuring 32 people who have changed the world individually, from Mozart to Martha Graham.

In 2010, International Power launched a recognition scheme called “CAUGHT IN THE ACT” that encouraged recommending fellow colleagues for excellence in any of the core "ACT" values. Despite the poor economy, the leadership team didn't want actions to go unrewarded. This program ensured recognition for good work and gave employees a formal means of nominating one another. Nominations were passed upwards so that everyone was aware of the good work. Rewards were given in the form of a certificate signed by managers and ACT dollars that could be traded for merchandise.

International Power, ACT

PRACTICAL EXAMPLE #7 - DESIGN

The brief: To articulate the company's core values visually.
A: Accuracy & Accountability
C: Candid Conversation & Creating Relationships
T: Team Integration & Talent Development

2008

Cube