Key Business Network

brand design: logo design | brand identity

Key Business Network is based on the concept of business growth through support and education, providing personal and professional development in conjunction with referral-based networking and regular meetings.

'Australia's fastest growing business networking group: more business through better referrals.'

Owners Julie and Doug founded the original Key Business Network (KBN) in November 2008, then more recently merged the network under another name after acquiring the Australian franchise rights. Then in 2019 the decision was made to once again become independently owned, and the Key Business Network name was to return.

Critical to the change: KBN was being relaunched for the future, rather than 'just going back' to the 'old' name and networking format. What this meant for the brand design project was a complete change away from the original logo and brand design elements.

A number of concepts were explored, however an early frontrunner was the concept of integrating a key shape into the logo to take full advantage of the highly unique and memorable name.

While the ‘k’ key is a more literal representation of the name, ‘key’ in the broader sense represents a network that provides a means of achieving and understanding, while forming connections of crucial importance. An arrow shape also forms to represent the referrals and recommendations that happen within the network; being directed towards a line (connection) from the circle (business network).

The Key Business Network logo is made up of an integrated logomark (the ‘k’ key) that makes up part of the logotype. The rich blue represents trust and professionalism amongst the members and executive teams. The blue steps through into a light teal which represents communication and learning. The dark blue creates a professional feel while off-setting against the crisp, fresh white.

Various versions of the logo and logomark were created, along with usage specifications and colour values. The logo was created by customising a heavy weight of the font Agenda; as such the Agenda family of fonts was specified to complement the logo and present the brand as friendly yet professional.

A 'key' part of the brand design is the 'k' key element, which gets neatly integrated into the logotype whenever possible to keep the full name in as many places as possible—then also gets used on its own as an icon in places where the full logo won't fit or where things get busy. Examples of this include name badges and PowerPoint slides where the full logo would compete for attention with the rest of the content.

A range of branded touchpoints were created in line with the relaunch, including pull-up banners, business cards, PowerPoint templates, name badges, email signatures, letterhead, plus various brochures and flyers.

Owner Julie Bannister had this to say about working with Evocative Brand Design:

'I have used Ben and Renée’s services often and I have always found them to be very professional and responsive to my many requests and questions. Their work is unique, and they have a great knowledge of current branding ideas to give the best outcome. I highly recommend Ben and Renée from Evocative.'

You can visit the Key Business Network website at keybusinessnetwork.com.au and follow the network on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn. If you'd like to visit a meeting you can visit a group here.

Meeting photography by Studio 4 Media.