Design program

Company strategy

The merger between Statoil and Hydro meant that the company needed a new name and a new profile. The name Statoil was chosen. Statoil as a company is undergoing major development and needs to make itself known in a demanding competitive situation. Global players need to be faced, the right competences need to be recruited and energy forms other than oil and gas have to be integrated and communicated. With 30,000 employees in more than 40 countries, the profile also needs to function as universally as possible.

Gathering information

The development of a brand platform went hand in hand with the design process and the two had an influence on each other. It goes without saying that the ambition was to create a strong position and a differentiated profile, and to clearly mark that the company has entered a new phase. As part of the process of developing a new visual identity, a new vision was also created: Crossing energy frontiers.

Sharing information and formulating plans and strategies was done on several levels simultaneously. The company’s strategy and basic values were a clear point of departure for the development of the identity and communication concept. One goal has been to establish a common culture for the whole company. Top management functioned as a steering group for the project and there was close collaboration between the company’s H R-environment and the involvement of employee representatives at important milestones. This has been crucial to future operations. The project was of course confidential, so the process has been completely closed and internalised.

Conceptualisation

A number of conceptual ideas were developed before five different directions were considered strong enough take part in a final selection. Solutions that would represent more than energy were sought and the challenge became finding a design that was concrete enough and communicated a relevant story. It was decided that the Norwegian origin and history of the company was important for creating understanding and recognition internally. The Norwegian night sky proved to be a good concept and starting point for future work.

Testing and choice of direction

The North Star was seen as a symbol of Statoil’s strongest qualities. The associations were clear for a pioneering company that has a distinct technology-orientated strategy and has ambitions of leading the way in its sector. The link to Norway and the star constellations in the Norwegian night sky were clear and relevant without being mundane and blatant. Several star concepts were researched.

Design specification

The aim was to create a strong icon that was clear and easy to understand and associate with. A lot of work was put into the design and the relationship between the size of the different elements in the symbol in order to make the most of the constellations idea, while also giving it a refined shape suitable for both printed media and display surfaces. A unique typography was developed simultaneously to support the logo and to become an efficient tool for future communication in its own right.

The discussion of colour was comprehensive, but that it was the North Star was important – it had to be clear, luminous and radiate energy. Most importantly, Statoil should still be able to clearly differentiate itself from all competitors, who largely used conventional tools and colour combinations. The colour magenta is seen as different, in a sense challenging and suitable for a pioneer wanting to contribute to identifying new solutions to the energy dilemma facing the world.

Development

The design agency has had an unusually close collaboration with Statoil’s own employees and worked so both parties were fully integrated. Statoil also had its own design department which, together with the agency, had worked on prototyping, testing and other processes ensuring full integration.

The design agency and the client made a good team in which all decisions were made by Statoil and the solutions are a result of their own considerations. They are the people who know the market and the competition and are thus in the best position to have the final word. The design agency set up a team for each main area and these teams worked in groups with dedicated project managers and designers from Statoil. The digital part of the project was crucial, and closely integrated with all identity development to ensure an effective display-based platform for future digital and interactive communication. As an organisation, Statoil is characterised by its democratic structure and the profile-creation process engaged the management and company employees during its crucial stages.

Along the way the project has met with some productive resistance and even more enthusiasm. It was important that it did not become a purely Norwegian project that went straight over the heads of all international employees. This is why it has had its own page on the company intranet, where solutions and reasoning have regularly been posted.

Commercialisation/launch

Statoil has traditionally allowed each business area to have its own voice. Now, the whole group will have a single voice. Preparations for implementing the new design began in spring 2009 and on 2 November 2009, the complete concept was simultaneously launched in all countries to all 30,000 employees. The company itself believes that the new profile contributes towards placing Statoil on the map in a new way, and defines all goals as met despite the fact that the implementation of the new profile is nowhere near complete. Norwegian design of a high quality It is worth noting that the Norwegian design environment is fully capable of implementing such a comprehensive project at a high international level.

Company: Statoil ASA

Project group company: Team StatoilHydro: - - Markedsdirektør: Kjetil Undhjem - Markedssjef og prosjektansvarlig Identitetsutvikling: Ole Gunnar Dokka - Prosjektledere Identitetsutvikling: Carl Fredrik Olsen, Karin Tangrud, Ågot Holgersen, Cato Meling - Prosjektleder Implementering: Nina Opsahl - -

Design: Scandinavian Design Group

Project group design company: Team Scandinavian Design Group: - Kundeansvarlig og strategisk rådgiver: Anne Margrete Børjesson - Kreativ leder: John Fielding - Designere: Therese Jacobsen, Mathias Disen, Tobias Apelgren, Anne Marit Brenden, Gøril Torske, Henning Arnesen - Tekstforfatter: Nick Hynes - Prosjektledere: Naja Boone, Tone Tuxen Frilling, Bente Eikholt - Rådgiver digital: Christer Lien - Designansvarlig digital: Diogo Oliveira Valerio - Designere digital: Anders Fagerhus, Håvard Gjelseth, Suzie Webb - Informasjonsarkitekt: Silja Langbraaten - Ferdiggjørere: Bård Andresen, Trine Karlsen, Ingvild Marstein - Underleverandører og samarbeidspartnere: Research, konsept- og navneutvikling: FutureBrand, London - Massekommunikasjon: McCann, Oslo - Produksjonsrådgivning: Mediaprint, Oslo - Animasjon og grafikk: Toxic, Oslo - Skiltprogramm: Harkess-Ord, UK - Tradeshows: Enigma, UK - Interiørdesign: Zink, Oslo


Award / year: Honours Award for Design Excellence - 2010

Category: Nominees