BOOST was developed in 2016 under the leadership of Lieutenant at Sea 1st class Berend van de Kraats within the Ministry of Defense to allow submarine crews to perform optimally, both in operational (sailing) and bureaucratic (ashore) conditions.
Within the framework of the Adaptive Armed Forces in Defense, BOOST was soon developed further and also applied to more than 5,000 employees of the three other armed forces. BOOST has proven to be a successful concept to permanently increase the ability to change attitudes and behavior within groups.
The Dutch Ministry of Defense brought our agency on board to steer the BOOST project in the right direction and to use our creative ability to make the project visually attractive. By the time we joined as an agency, a huge part of the project had already been set in motion. The concept of a ‘message in a bottle’ had been devised, red had been determined as the core color and a logo had even been designed in Power Point.
During the many conversations and brainstorming sessions with various dignitaries from the Ministry of Defense, we took matters into our own hands to come up with a prettier and more stylish product. We brainstorm with our clients and always try to find a balance between the client’s own ideas and our vision on design. After all, the fact that an elaboration of an existing logo can be improved does not mean that the underlying vision is wrong.
Bij BOOST de rebranding gingen wij uit van enkele kenmerken binnen het bestaande logo. Ronde hoeken om af te steken tegen de overige (veelal harde) communicatie van Defensie. Daarnaast cursieve typografie om een voorwaartse beweging te visualiseren. Om die beweging extra te benadrukken, voegden we nog drie pijltjes toe. De kleur rood werd gehandhaafd, maar minder overheersend toegepast in de communicatie.
At BOOST we started with a few characteristics of the existing logo. Round (soft) corners to stand out from the other (mostly hard) communication of the Ministry of Defense. In addition, italic typography to visualize a forward movement. To emphasize this movement, we added three more arrows. The color red was maintained, but applied less predominantly in the communicative expressions.
With the idea of the bottle as a starting point, we developed the BOOST BOX. A box full of information to independently go through a BOOST process. We found a stylish stainless steel bottle consistent with the army’s style. This bottle has the right size to roll up documents inside, but it also has a large enough opening to take the documents out again with ease. The bottle was provided with a BOOST logo and we added a sports cap to each box. The bottles are now distributed across various barracks throughout the country, to be found on desks and at sports facilities. The BOOST message is hence widely spread and the bottle turns out to be a perfect advertising item. Other documentation we made to measure for a small compartment has also found a place in the box.
The box is a matte black magnetic cardboard box, provided with silkscreen printed logos and texts on both the outside and the inside. It has a custom made interior and is produced in an edition of 200. The process of distribution has been taken into account by providing the inside of the box with different heights per item. This way it does not matter if the box falls and it can even be thrown, all items remain neatly in place. A nice even distribution of the items gives it an attractive look when opening the box.
For a subtle use of the color red we have chosen to add sleeves around both boxes, made of heavy colored paper from the English manufacturer Colorplan. We have also implemented this in the cover of some of the documents. All red items have a BOOST logo executed in bas-relief, and watercolor drawings of the four armed forces designed by C FOR CHARLIE.
To promote BOOST, we also developed a special teaser and instruction video that was widely distributed. These videos were distributed via the various online channels of the Ministry of Defense. Also in this video we combined the four armed forces. We came up with the concept, wrote the script, shot the images, provided the right music and wrote the voice-over.
EVENT
For the presentation of the BOOST BOX, C FOR CHARLIE organized a special launch event. Our creative event managers, converted the auditorium of the Schaarsbergen Military Base into an attractive space by means of appropriate decoration, lighting and audiovisual solutions.
The very first BOOST BOX was presented by air force paratroopers and symbolically offered to the Inspector General of the Armed Forces Hans van Griensven.
