A logo immediately grabs your attention, and tells you who is talking with you. It is an identity, and in the days of social media, it is a way to identify what post you are looking at.
Which is why we are excited to bring to you, the new IBU logo!
The story behind the IBU logo design
IBU Family Resources Group, established in 1989, is a long running group of volunteer mums, building a community of strong relationships and support to raise our future generations. IBU Family Resources Group organizes playgroups, support groups and ad-hoc events across various venues, with our partners and sponsors, around the Klang Valley.
The world around us has changed in these 30 years, even more so in the last two with the lockdowns. It has been so good to see the little ones able to run around so free! Also what had not changed is IBU’s logo. So with the 2022 committee’s direction, one of the first tasks for the organization was to make the logo more relevant.
The dilemma when redesigning the IBU logo
We looked at trying to fit our existing logo where it would be used the most- as Facebook or Instagram thumbnails. We tried to see what should remain the same, what needs to be fresh. It was then we realized the logo was designed before the internet changed our world, and was designed during the time of magazines, posters and banners, when the logo was seen from a distance and not on your mobile phones.
Our brand and our ethos however, remains the same- support young families in Malaysia. We are still a forum for parents to meet, no matter where they come from, the parenting issues we all face remain the same.
So much has changed, and yet so little. So what should change in the IBU logo? What should be different?
The new logo
IBU Family Resources Group remains about the family bonds. About raising children. About being in Malaysia. And we are recognizable still as the organization that creates the safe space for everyone, no matter what the ethnicity or the colour of your passport.
We designed options that modernized the current logo, and we also looked at a completely different design using the home or the hands as a part of the reassurance that we are about. We considered dropping the wau. We looked at making the colours more sophisticated, or remaining child centric with bright primary colours.
After we had designs ready, we put it to vote. Our members saw the designs and picked the ones they loved best. Some liked the new faces as “cute”. Others wondered if the logo should include both boys and girls? One wondered if the logo shows our diversity, because mom is not always the default parent. What about dads, single parents, families with more than one child? How will it look inside the round thumbnails on Facebook? In black and white?
Any one who has been a part of a logo re-design will understand how many behind the scenes discussions there have been!!
Azeeza Nasir, take a bow, for a job well done.
The IBU Family
The Mother and Child represents the family, a parent and child organization
Holding hands shows support and love
The Wau. IBU Family Resources Group remains a Malaysian organization, this is our tribute to the existing logo
Welcome to our world
Our play groups are filling up, our field trips have waitlisted members. Our volunteers have their t-shirts with the new logo. Our social media is already updated, and we are working on the IBU Family Bazaar In September. (If this caught your attention and you would like to be a part, we are recruiting Bazaar volunteers and renting Bazaar tables, as well as looking for sponsors for our activities. Drop us a line at ibu@ibufamily.org with your requests).
Soon, our membership card will also be updated (if you have not yet applied for the online card or updated your email ID and other details, click here)
The new logo gives us a breath of fresh air and more energy than before.
And yes, IBU also includes dads, sibs, other family members. They may not be a part of the logo, but they are very much a part of our world.
2022, the year in retrospect- an update
Since we wrote this, in the few short months of updating the IBU’s image and our logo, we have hosted hundreds of micro-events ranging from coffee morning playdates, to nature playgroups, to support groups, and even two special events - the inaugural IBU Family Bazaar and IBU Family Sports Day. We also now have a presence in Cyberjaya, Penang, and soon, Pahang and more!
Yes, our IBU family has also kept up the pace. Supporting families, parents, young ones in a variety of exciting events that includes the Bazaar, Fire Station and other field trips, Sports and celebrations. Here are our designs that have kept pace with everything in 2022.
Guess what they will be up to in 2023?
