‘Grow with us as we become Bristol Zoo Project’

Bristol Zoological Society is on a journey.

With wild animals under threat of extinction, we are building a new conservation zoo at our 136-acre site, just off Junction 17 of the M5 motorway.

Here, around 80 per cent of animals will be directly linked to our conservation work

Our mission of ‘saving wildlife together’ continues – an ongoing and essential part of our DNA.

To mark the start of this journey, Bristol Zoological Society decided after extensive market research with visitors, non-visitors, staff and volunteers, to rename Wild Place Project – Bristol Zoo Project.

We also have a new website, bristolzoo.org.uk, and rebranded social media channels.

A new and connected brand visual identity

The new logo focuses on three letters – zoo. Bristol Zoological Society was the first society to use the word in print and now hopes to redefine the role of zoos in the 21st century.

The branding has been designed to evoke excitement about wildlife and encourage visitors and the community to grow with the zoo.

Rebranding is so much more than a logo – this is a change for the future at a time when we all need to respond to the global climate and biodiversity emergency. It conveys what we stand for, why we exist and what we plan to deliver.

We couldn’t have done it without our supporters and visitors, who we engaged with throughout the process – from inviting people to take part in surveys to speaking to people face-to-face about what they want to see from us.

Thank you to every single person who gave their time and is supporting us on this journey.

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Read more: Controversial plans for almost 200 homes at former Bristol Zoo site aproved

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The process

Local brand design company Peloton Design has worked with us on the visual ID, following market research by consultancy Morris Hargreaves McIntyre.

Peloton has previously worked for Bristol Zoological Society at both Bristol Zoo Gardens and Wild Place Project, as well as other clients ranging from the SS Great Britain Trust, Horse World Trust and Better Food, to Somerset County Cricket Club, Tours of Britain and the University of Oxford department of biology.

The Peloton Design team – directors Karen Bird and Pete Thompson, and senior designer Tom Castle – fully understood our challenges, the opportunity, and most importantly of all, our objective of saving wildlife together.

The visual ID provides a strong connection between our organisation Bristol Zoological Society, and our site, Bristol Zoo Project, yet allows each brand to evoke different emotions and responses, namely:

• Trust, action and hope for Bristol Zoological Society
• Excitement, optimism, and immersive for Bristol Zoo Project

In total we had five different brand ID routes to explore, develop, challenge and edit. These included an illustrated marque that used animal shapes to create key letters.

Not only is an illustrative route more difficult as so much media is now consumed on small screens, more importantly, the species we work with will change. We will always work with the animals that are most threatened.

The design we developed was typographical, inspired by the traditional letterpress, yet modern and forward-looking, with two prominent large ‘O’s in ZOO for Bristol Zoological Society and Bristol Zoo Gardens.

The Society logo comes in ‘Society blue’, whereas Bristol Zoo Project has ‘Peacock teal’ as its main colour, and awider palette.

The logo is versatile and playful – the words can be taken apart, and to really dial up the fun, the Os can multiply for example ‘Bristol ZOOoooo Project’, transform into eyes or a pair of binoculars, or even transform into animals with eyelashes and tails.

Bristol Zoo Project’s logo can be turned into a pair of eyes – image: Bristol Zoo Project

Grow with us

We want to change how people think about a zoo. We also want to raise funds for our vital work across the world, recruit amazing volunteers, raise awareness, and influence policy. Most importantly we want to bring people with us on this exciting journey as we save wildlife together.

This summer we are asking our visitors and supporters to come on this journey and grow with us.

From Saturday to September 3, in addition to the bears, giraffes, cheetahs, geladas and wolves – plus new residents the ostriches and spotted deer – we have The Very Hungry Caterpillar Trail.

It’s apt we have chosen the Eric Carle children’s classic tale of transformation from caterpillar to butterfly.

Over the next few years Bristol Zoological Society, the charity that owns and runs the zoo, will be investing in our 136-acre site – transforming the site and creating a new zoo with conservation at its heart.

It will have exhibits that better reflect animals’ habitats, new species, new play areas and a conservation campus for students, vets, and the breeding of threatened animals.

To visit and see our new branding, as well as take part in The Very Hungry Caterpillar Trail, visit bristolzoo.org.uk.

This is just the beginning. Support us, our charity Bristol Zoological Society, and our work. Grow with us as we become Bristol Zoo Project. Join us on our mission of saving wildlife together.

Dagmar Smeed is Bristol Zoological Society’s head of marketing – photo: Bristol Zoological Society

Main photo: Bristol Zoological Society

Read next:

• Wild Place to become Bristol Zoo Project
• ‘The Bristol Zoo scheme will be a showcase development for a long time to come’
• Hundreds march to protest plans for former Bristol Zoo site

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