You may have noticed over the last several weeks we have begun rolling out updated badges for memberships and our partner programs. (You can see the full line-up of new badges here.)

We’re sprucing up our membership badges as part of an iterative effort to update some of the visual branding for the Association - more on that in a moment.

Why the Badge Update?

Frankly, we have been hearing for a few years now from members and partners that the badges needed a refresh. The previous badge designs served us well, but it has been apparent for some time that an update was needed. There was an effort a few years ago, and some fine initial work was done by Gavula Design, but the issue lost momentum and the designs were never finalized. Deeson Online, one of our Premium Supporting Partners, designed the new badges pro-bono as part of their participation in the Drupal Give Initiative. The new badges are modern-looking, bright and colorful, and we have received positive feedback so far from members and partners.

Badges appear automatically on Drupal Association member profiles and partner profiles on Drupal.org. We are still working on the sizing and placement of the badges on Drupal.org profiles. They can also be used by members and partners on their own sites to show support for Drupal, the Drupal Association and our mission to foster the project.

What’s Next?

The badge redesign is one step in a process to update the visual identity of the Drupal Association and our programs. The current visual brand being used by the Drupal Association is not really a brand. It was devised as a way to ensure visual consistency among Drupal.org subsites after the redesign and Blue Cheese theme was deployed. With the inline arrangement of the visual, it is difficult to place in many situations that call for a square image. There is also no visual "shorthand" we can use in situations that call for it. 

What it will mean is an update to the Drupal Association visual brand that will add a logomark shape that aligns with the new badges, and potentially a stacked version with the word “Association" underneath the Drupal wordmark. This will be an evolution of the existing visual and will not be what most people would consider transformative. Based on that update we will work on consistent visuals for our programs like Global Training Days, Community Grants and partner programs. Most of this work will be done by staff or using pro bono resources to minimize cost.

Just to be clear: the process is strictly limited to Drupal Association programs and in no way touches the Drupal project visuals such as the Drupal wordmark or the Druplicon. Also, it does not affect the unique look and feel of each DrupalCon event.

The goal of all this is twofold. First, we know from community surveys and anecdotal feedback that there is some confusion about which programs we offer. The variety of visuals that are used across our programs doesn’t make things any clearer. A consistent visual identity, along with clear communications, will help to make the connections more obvious. Second, we are professionalizing our communications as an organization in accordance with the 2014 Leadership Plan. Having a professional-looking visual identity is key a part of that.

The updated look will be rolling out over the next month or so. If you have questions, feel free to shoot me an email or add a comment to the post.

Thank you!