Opera Graphic Design Tempo

Challenge 1 How can design support companies in developing and communicating their corporate identity, brand repositioning and corporate logo refreshment?
Opera Graphic Design
Tempo-Team Group
Tempo-Team Group
Modernise, refresh and give new edge to the existing corporate identity.
The re-design matches the broad range of current activities within the corporation
and the changing social environment in which it operates.
Client
Tempo-Team
Amsterdam
The Netherlands
Client’s Business
Temporary employment
for the Netherlands
Year of launch
2006
Target countries
The Netherlands
Who is the client, what is their position
in their industry?
Tempo-Team is part of the worldwide
Randstad Holding and operates in
different strategic branches, ranging from
financial services to logistics, health care and
government. Tempo-Team has 250 branches
spread all over the Netherlands. On a daily
basis it provides employment for 30.000 flex
workers.
What business is your client active in and
what is their strategic positioning?
Tempo-Team is one of the key-players in
the field of temporary employment in the
Netherlands. Key words for its operation
are: down to earth, service minded, clear
communication, no-nonsense.
What was the brief for your project and what
does your client hope to achieve?
The brief was to modernise the existing
corporate identity to match the current profile
of the company. The new design needed to
be suited for use in all different media the
organization uses to get in touch with its
various groups of clients: business partners
seeking employees, individual clients looking
for (temporary) employment and the staff
working within the Tempo-Team organization.
Some basic elements of the existing identity
were to be carried over into the new design:
the logotype, the colour red (PMS 032) and
the use of Gill Sans as the corporate typeface
had to be respected. Other than that, the new
design had to express the core values of the
company: clarity, vigour and the unorthodox
approach in which Tempo-Team takes pride.
How did you discover the core of the problem
and how did you find the solution?
Just as for any other project OPERA first
engaged in a phase of research. This was
partly based on the information provided in
the client’s brief. However, just as important
was our independent research into the
long-term effects of a visual identity that was
basically unchanged since it was conceived
in the mid-eighties, a different age altogether.
Not only has the perception of temporary
employment altered and the position of the
industry changed, but also the way Tempo-
24
European Business Design 1
Team communicates with its various clients
went through several ‘revolutions’, not the
least by the introduction of ICT.
Tempo-Team cherished the same corporate
identity for almost twenty years. This persistence helped it become a recognized brand
in the Dutch domestic market for temporary
(and permanent) employment. However, the
design had lost part of its original freshness.
Our research showed that issues arose
with the application of the visual identity
as soon as new business developments or
new technologies entered the operation.
The coherence of the original identity got
corrupted, not as a result of negligence but
because the identity could not meet all the
challenges posed by the growing complexity
of the company’s communications. Society
grew more complex over the years and
communication with specialised markets
and target groups became more intricate.
This kind of complexity could not be tackled
by simply applying the rules of the existing
corporate identity. This showed immediately
when we started our inventory of leaflets,
brochures, booklets, forms, websites, etcetera
produced by the company in recent years.
The visual identity demanded fine-tuning. It
needed a broader scope of coherent design
tools to answer specific needs, and it had to
diversify its expressions to deal with different
clients in different markets. Finally it had
to take into account that new technologies
and a new awareness of visual language are
prominently present in the minds of modern
clients and the staff at Tempo-Team.
Describe the key design aspects of the project.
Perhaps the most important choice made
in our new approach was to re-instate the
importance of a systemic design for the
company. Over the years the original system
had been suffering. It had to be adjusted
to new demands, but the general direction
did not allow for the diversity of messages
generated by the company. Now was the
time to develop a more sophisticated grid
that would serve as a perfect matrix for all
different kinds of products. The grid is based
on three vertical columns. Horizontal rows
deliver an added possibility to diversify the
expression of the grid. A clear white edge
around the page marks all new printwork.
The whole system is meant to provide
flexibility of use, reflecting not only the
core business of Tempo-Team (flexible
workforces) but also the diversified nature
of the company. Different business units
can develop a degree of autonomy within a
systemic identity. A strong family relation will
always remain visible.
Next to the original red, we introduced four
more colours: they are in tone with PMS red
032 and signal a new sensibility. The colours
are modern and clear and can be used to
identify specific operations in the company.
Special attention has been given to the role
of photography. Together with the client
OPERA identified the need for a ‘new’
photographic approach in which the reality
of the modern work environment plays a
key role – our photographs would feature
real people in real workplaces. Tempo-Team
deals with real concerns and that’s what
the images communicate. The only staged
directive is that each picture will contain a
red element.
The grid; the basic flexible matrix for all media products.
The grid; horizontal lines making use of the different colours.
The grid as a basis for using horizontal lines as well as vertical squares
with the new photography, new colours and text in advertisements.
The new logo and slogans.
The grid; vertical squares using the different colours.
What is the single most important thing
needed from the designer and from the client
to make a design project successful?
The will to look beyond obvious answers
through real co-operation between client and
designer. The two parties need to develop a
shared understanding of both the problem
and the approach towards a design solution.
Good communication between client and
designer is a seemingly simple but quite
decisive element in the working process.
By researching the initial brief, the existing
identity and by learning to understand the
client’s language, designers can create a
platform for co-operation. Interaction creates
trust, and trust can create the possibilities to
venture into new territories together, finding
new answers to old and new questions.
This aspect of exploring new possibilities
has emerged during our work with TempoTeam in more than just one way. The graphic
identity operation has generated new ideas
about the design of the Tempo-Team ‘stores’
around Holland. OPERA has designed new
interiors that are based on the principles of
the current graphic identity.
Front & back of the new style businesscard.
European Business Design 1
25
Challenge 1 How can design support companies in developing and communicating their corporate identity, brand repositioning and corporate logo refreshment?
Agency profile
Opera Graphic Design
Leistraat 1
4818 NA Breda
The Netherlands
T 0031 (0) 76 514 75 96
F 0031 (0) 76 514 82 78
E trafic@opera-ontwerpers.nl
www.operagraphicdesign.com
Management Ton Homburg & Marty Schoutsen
Contact Claudia van de Velde
Staff 10
Founded 1981
Agency profile and expertise
Opera Graphic Design was founded in 1981 and is active in graphic and multimedia
design. OPERA distinguishes itself in our multidisciplinary way of working which leads
to more value in design. The basis is careful research for the assignment.
We deliver a total concept, resulting from the design process in cooperation with the
client, the programme and the preconditions. Our projects can vary from advising to
developing and managing complicated exhibitions and corporate identity projects.
Clients
* The National Museum of Ethnology, Museum Volkenkunde, Leiden, NL
* Urban Museum, Stedelijk Museum ‘s Hertogenbosch, Amsterdam, NL
* Muziekgebouw aan het IJ, Amsterdam, NL
* Grafisch Papier, Andelst, NL
* Control Pay, Breda, NL
* Caldic Collection, Rotterdam, NL
* Lensvelt, Breda, NL
* HEMA, Amsteram, NL
* Pfizer, Capelle aan den IJssel, NL
* Siemens, Den Haag, NL
* Philips High Tech Campus Eindhoven, Eindhoven, NL
* Arcam, Architect Institute Amsterdam, Amsterdam, NL
* Dura Vermeer Groep, Zoetermeer, NL
* Heijmans, Rosmalen, NL
* Deltalings, Rotterdam, NL
Different ways to use the grid, pictures and colours in brochures
expressing the new fresh corporate identity.
Awards
www.operagraphicdesign.nl.
Publications
www.operagraphicdesign.nl.
Pictures of the new interiors desgined based on the principles of the current
graphic identity. Soon two pilot stores in Groningen and Hoorn will open.
Other projects
Campagne affiches capturing images of real people during their workingday where the colour red
and the joy they experience in working for Tempo-Team.
26
European Business Design 1
European Business Design 1
27