What’s in a name? Welcome to the evolved ITC website and logo!

2 years in the making, I write this blog on the brink of sending our new website and logo into the world, and what an eye-opening process it has been! This is my second time working on a development like this, yet I never fail to be surprised by the in-depth explorative process and the discoveries that an identity update can bring about.

The strength of ITC has always been its membership. Organisations from across the UK, all manner of disciplines, all united in the belief the performing arts have the power and potential to change people’s lives. This has been the case ever since the genesis of the organisation, when twenty founding independent theatre companies came together to form a community which to this day, now five hundred members strong, continues to grow.

They say a website is a company’s window to the world, however at ITC, particularly working in communication, I’ve always thought of our ‘building’ requiring three windows. The first, small, safe and confidential is for bespoke advice and resources for the membership, our second larger front facing window is for direct communication with the independent sector as a whole, and with our third window it is essential for our website to clearly relay the value and needs of the sector and membership to policy makers. It is this three strand approach which makes ITC’s role unique and presented us with some exciting challenges when deciding the design and functionality of the website.

One of my favourite aspects of our previous website design, that we felt was absolutely essential to incorporate, is The Membership Directory. If you want to understand the value of this sector, all you need to do is look through the five hundred strong companies spread across the UK, to see the creativity, activity and sheer resilience at play, and to appreciate to the enormous range of people, marginalised and mainstream, that these organisations engage. This page represents the heart of ITC. Members, this is your shop window, and we strongly encourage you to populate your profile, to help us display and advocate for the valuable work you carry out.

A new element of the website, that we hope will support members to make the most of their membership is the dashboard. On logging in members will be able to see; their resources, their discounted training bookings, the latest legal and industrial updates, our most important tip of the month, ‘if you only read one thing’, events they have added, jobs they have listed and we hope in the near future, downloads of online training. Our General Manager, Zoe, frequently describes ITC membership as similar to that of a gym, the more you use it, the more you get from it and the greater its value. We hope by drawing together all the online benefits of ITC, members will engage with and gain more from their membership than ever before.

Finally, perhaps the most distinct evolution of this whole process is the ITC logo. I say evolve as opposed to change as this process was very much about developing the identity of ITC, carrying forward the extraordinary work of the organisation over nearly fifty years and setting it up for another fifty years of serving the membership and representing our unique sector. Working with brand company TM we explored versions that brought out the theatricality of ITC, the strength and power of ITC etc. Both these realisations didn’t work, as it became apparent to us that ITC’s role is not to stand in the spotlight, or to shout above the voices of our members. We are fundamentally a support organisation that works in the background, facilitating members to create the most their best work and to thrive and survive, employing the best management practice as possible. This important ethos is reflected in all aspects of ITC, for example our commitment to not seek funding from the same public funds as our members.

Finally, after much soul searching, we arrived at this version. We believe that it is in keeping with the light touch spirit of the organisation and the original logo. It is distinctive and clear, without shouting. The circle connecting the ‘I’ and the ‘T’ reminds me of community, of coming together. And, following on from that sentiment, it is our hope that our five hundred members will display this logo on their website and their emails, and engage in this community and website, united knowledge that we are stronger together.

By Thea Stanton, ITC Communications Manager

WEBSITE AND BRAND DESIGNER

TM: TM is a brand design and strategy studio based in London. Their clients operate in a range of sectors, from high-end luxury and culture to the corporate sector.

WEBSITE DEVELOPER

Lattimore & Friends: We are a web development partner, working exclusively with great design, branding and creative agencies, helping them win and deliver web projects that wow their clients.