VisitScotland - Brand refresh
Updating Scotland's legacy brand
VisitScotland, the national tourism organisation, had a well-established identity but one that was struggling to keep pace with modern digital expectations. Fragmented assets, inconsistent execution, and legacy processes meant the brand lacked coherence across channels. To remain relevant and trusted, the organisation needed not just a refreshed visual identity, but a stronger foundation for how design was created, managed, and delivered.
Client
VisitScotland
Services
Brand strategy Brand design
Industries
Tourism
Date
2022
Results
Modernised a dated, fragmented brand identity
Delivered a unified design system aligned with Brand Scotland
Reduced complexity with a clearer brand architecture
Increased organisational design matury
Established accessibility standards across communications
Improved team capability and confidence through mentoring
Increased trust, alignment, and consistency across the organisation
Project background
VisitScotland’s brand identity had become dated and no longer met the needs of the organisation or its audiences. The colour palette was chaotic, guidelines for photography, tone of voice, and illustration were either absent or inconsistent, and the brand architecture had grown overly complex. These issues led to inefficiencies, duplications, and accessibility challenges across touchpoints.
Although prior attempts at a refresh had begun, they lacked the expertise to deliver the scale of change required. At the same time, the introduction of Brand Scotland’s new look and feel at a campaign level created both a challenge and an opportunity. While the Scotland marque was critical for raising Scotland’s profile on the global stage, as consumer interest moved closer to travel decision-making, there was a clear need for the VisitScotland brand to step in with clarity and consistency.
The refresh therefore had to do two things:
Modernise VisitScotland’s identity - addressing inefficiencies, accessibility issues, and creative inconsistency.
Align with Brand Scotland, reducing complexity in the brand architecture and setting out a vision of “One brand. One voice. One direction.”
The Approach
I led the brand refresh with a focus on both visual evolution and organisational readiness. Rather than imposing a new look in isolation, the work centred on enabling the organisation to use design effectively and consistently.
Key steps included:
Developing a new design system that modernised the brand while respecting its legacy.
Introducing Figma and FigJam, standardising workflows, and streamlining brand assets.
Simplifying brand architecture to make the system easier to navigate and apply.
Embedding accessibility standards across outputs.
Leading stakeholder education sessions to build understanding and buy-in.
Mentoring the internal design team, building confidence and capability to maintain the system.
Integrating design operations practices to improve efficiency and cross-team alignment.
This approach ensured the refresh wasn’t just cosmetic - it created a more resilient, scalable, and collaborative design culture.
Final results
The refresh delivered a renewed visual identity and a more mature design capability across the organisation. Outcomes included:
Increased efficiency through consistent, easy-to-use systems.
Improved accessibility and inclusivity across brand communications.
Stronger internal alignment, with teams equipped to deliver consistently and confidently.
Raised design maturity, shifting VisitScotland from legacy ways of working to modern, scalable practices.
A brand that balanced heritage with modernisation, increasing trust with both internal stakeholders and external audiences.