Designing the Voice of Addiction Recovery Services in British Columbia

The British Columbia Addiction Recovery Association (BCARA), formerly known as the Recovery Council of BC, was formed out of the early work of the BC Centre on Substance Use in 2016. Recognizing ‘Recovery’ is an integral part of the continuum of interventions for individuals impacted by addiction, BCARA serves as a collective voice of providers and other experts in responding to the emerging opioid crisis. GMD was honoured to develop BCARA’s brand identity that would establish a design system that would be applied to all their collateral, including a website that would serve support workers in the Addiction/Recovery sector.

Creating a Brand’s New Voice

GMD started by working alongside BCARA to establish the ‘Big Idea, Brand Values, Personality, Benefits and Attributes’ of the organization. This process guided us in developing the logos, colour palette, and tone of voice (how they would communicate with their audience). The final logo represents the Addiction/Recovery journey of individuals as well as paying homage to the mountains of British Columbia.

A colour palette was chosen that is calming, subtle, and reflected the coastal environment found in British Columbia. These colours are used throughout all collateral, including the website are complemented by bold, clean, and modern typography handpicked by GMD designers. These elements were combined to create a clean design aesthetic that was easy to navigate and conveyed the subject matter in an impactful and respectful way. 

A Modern Website Supporting Addiction/Recovery Services

Once the brand identity was established (including business cards, letterhead, and various collateral), the team at GMD worked to design and develop a website for BCARA that included easily navigable resources and member registration and login. This integration was important as it allowed members to access resource information hosted within the BCARA website.

Regular updates to the BCARA website are critical in keeping the website running seamlessly as well as improving the search ranking of the site. Our developers implemented an easy-to-use content management system that enabled the team at BCARA to make regular edits and update blog posts without any coding knowledge. 

This new website will improve the accessibility to information and best practices for addiction recovery support workers, increasing the level of care available to individuals affected by addiction.

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Whether you are hoping to upgrade your current website or develop a new brand, the team at GMD is here to help. Get in touch with the GMD team now to explore your options and get more done.