Client:
Vision Express
Project type:
In-house
What was delivered:
Brand Guidelines
Vision Express
Project type:
In-house
What was delivered:
Brand Guidelines
Vision Express is a well-known name in the UK, with nearly 600 stores nationwide dedicated to providing high-quality optical care and exceptional customer service.
During my seven years with the company, I served as brand guardian, leading multiple rebrands and developing comprehensive digital and print guidelines to maintain brand consistency. I ensured the guidelines stayed current, reinforcing Vision Express's identity across all platforms and supporting a cohesive customer experience.
Vision Express part of EssilorLuxottica
EssilorLuxottica, a global leader in affordable, high-quality eye care, launched Vision Express’s refreshed branding in September 2023 to strengthen its market position. I developed brand guidelines to support this transition, capturing the updated visuals and messaging in alignment with EssilorLuxottica standards. The new brand included a change of font and introduced the eye shape as the graphical element for the building blocks of the new branding. The first main campaign launch in this branding was a breakage and loss protection service, further highlighting Vision Express's commitment to outstanding customer care and innovative service offerings.
Digital Library
Alongside the brand guidelines, I developed the website design system, starting in Sketch and later transitioning it to Figma. This comprehensive library included all components required for building content on the Vision Express .com and .ie sites. Regularly updated, it allowed for seamless creation of page layouts for approval and enabled elements to be exported at precise sizes for the Bloomreach CMS. These pixel-perfect templates streamlined our workflow, increasing in-house productivity and reducing reliance on external agencies, ultimately saving costs and improving project turnaround times.
Grandvision Project Purple
In 2018, Vision Express evolved its branding after becoming part of Grandvision. This shift softened the previous “Vision Taken Seriously” identity by incorporating Grandvision’s elements, such as the GV caring eye logo, the introduction of brand purple, and a transition from Helvetica to Orgon. The branding transition was crucial for the integration of Tesco Opticians stores, requiring detailed guidelines to maintain consistency. This marked the creation of my first comprehensive brand guidelines document for Vision Express.
Change of Positioning
In 2021, during the lockdown, I worked on Vision Express's full rebrand with Grandvision, aiming to position the company as offering high-quality eye care with an affordable value-for-money message. The rebrand retained elements like the caring eye logo, brand purple, and Orgon font, while introducing Marvin the mole and his family as the fun, approachable face of the brand. The new visual identity also featured the lens graphic as a key element. The campaign launched with "Glasses from £25" and key guarantees like a free lifetime warranty and free 100-day returns guarantee.
Always looking of ways to help the company I created an online version of the brand guidelines using a platform called Frontify as a personal project to move away from restrictions of the standard pdf guidelines making it easier to share the logo files and Marvin images to other areas of the business.
Internal Branding
Before the final branding was confirmed in 2018, we worked internally on a digital guide that introduced a gradient of the brand purple within the brand arc. While this style didn't become part of the official brand guidelines, it was successfully used in internal documents such as guides, reports, and HR handbooks. This approach helped establish a cohesive internal identity before the full rebrand was launched.
