Our general guidance is that creating new brands should usually be avoided, since too many brands and sub-brands will fragment and dilute the British Council’s overall brand strength and impact.

The area of creating brands and sub-identities is currently under review. Please contact Tony Bains, Head of Brand and Design for further advice.

Projects should be British Council-branded unless there is a very good reason for a distinctive identity. Such a reason might include:

projects wholly funded by a partner, where the brand is already mandated – for example, Chevening Scholarships or Erasmus

activities where a distinct positioning is needed for a particular target audience, such as the Going Global education conference

situations where a brand identity would bring together an otherwise fragmented offering to create something greater than the sum of its parts, such as the English for the World or Socius programmes.

When brands or sub-brands are created in circumstances like these, they should always follow the brand guidelines.