The West Cork Women Against Violence Project (WCWAVP) has unveiled a new name and logo for the organisation – West Cork Beacon. Announced at their AGM in September, the name is designed to be punchier and more memorable, allowing them to present the organisation as a multi-support service.
“Our name has served us well for over 20 years,” said Marie Mullholland, CEO of the charity. “However, it is long, it’s a bit clunky and the word ‘project’ suggests we’re only in it for the short term, which is absolutely not the case.” Although changing the name has been a consideration for some time, the introduction of a new Sexual Violence Support service at the end of August, that is available to anyone aged 14 and upwards, male or female, provided the impetus to make the change.
A thorough review of the competitive landscape here in Ireland and in the UK, was followed by a series of brainstorming workshops, involving both WCWAVP staff and supporters of the charity. Whilst countless names were generated during the process, these were whittled down to a shortlist of just four by May of this year, with these then researched amongst WCWAVP clients. West Cork Beacon was the resounding winner, with the tag line ‘Tackling Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence’.
“The name does exactly what it says on the tin,” said Marie Wiseman, of Wiser Marketing, who led the project from her position as Board Member at WCWAVP. “A beacon is defined as a light or other signal for guidance and it also signals safety, solidity and grounding, all of which fit well with the organisation’s values. And of course the Baltimore Beacon is one of the most iconic images of West Cork, so demonstrates the geography we cover.”
“The word ‘tackling’ in the sub text was important too,” added Mullholland. “A huge amount of the work we do is around challenging the presence of abuse in our society and community, and pushing for change in how abuse victims are treated and supported. Indeed our internal Vision is ‘A West Cork without Domestic Abuse!’. The word ‘tackling’ pays heed to this and better reflects our values and work ethics.”
The logo was designed by Jenny Dempsey, who has provided graphic design solutions to organisations throughout West Cork, for the past 15 years. As well as a core logo for the organisation as a whole, there are sub logos for the two main parts of the organisation. That for the Domestic Abuse Support Services arm continues to feature the profile of a woman, reflecting the focus of that part of the charity, whilst that for the Sexual Violence Support Services arm is not specifically gendered, again reflecting their focus.
“The brief was to create something that was evolutionary rather than revolutionary,” Jenny explained. ‘As the name was changing, it was important that the visual retained a connection to its previous iteration. We needed to reassure both current and future clients, and the community as a whole, that the organisation hadn’t changed – only the name. The brief also called for the creation of two ‘sub’ logos to differentiate the two strands that West Cork Beacon provides. Here we were able to create something new and used the opportunity to soften and simplify the visuals.”
Mulholland emphasised that, “It was important that the new logo reflected the greater range of services we provide but also stayed true to the legacy and history of the organisation and the women who made it possible. Jenny Dempsey and Marie Wiseman respected that past and with their combined talents have produced the new image and identity of our organisation going into the future.”
Visit the organisation’s website at www.westcorkbeacon.ie to learn more or call them on 027-53847 or freephone 1800 – 203 136. You’ll also find them on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter (X).
