Tuesday, March 8, 2022

Identity Change for Major British Deep Sea Bulk and Conventional Cargo Port

New Reveal to Demonstrate How Facility has Evolved
Shipping News Feature

UK – Rolling out its new mantra 'No Ordinary Port ' at the Society to Maritime Industries 2022 Conference today the Port of Tyne says it needed a fresh identity to clearly show how much the Port has evolved and how it continues to diversify operations from solely focusing on traditional shipping activities, to become a world class hub for clean energy and maritime innovation.

In its ‘Tyne Transformed' design brief, the Port's leadership team wanted a bold identity that captured the passion, dynamism and energy at one of the UK's fastest changing ports. With its unique, deep water location at the mouth of the River Tyne it was felt important that this natural resource synonymous with the Port's position within the local community was emphasised in the new brand identity.

According to the designers, a key element of the re-brand is a generative ‘Kinetic Tyne’, a dynamic visual representing a 17 mile stretch of the River Tyne that terminates at the Port. Just like the fluidity and expansiveness of water, this innovative visual icon enables the brand identity to be continually in ‘motion', just as the Port continues to evolve and is open for business 365 days a year.

To demonstrate just how changed the facilities are of late the new identity includes that brand mantra ‘No Ordinary Port.' This relaunch was designed to clearly demonstrate just how much progress has been made by leadership to date and, linked to the ‘No Ordinary Port' strategic message unveiled with the re-brand are three other key sub-messages - each linking the Port's core values with its commercial achievements:

  • Built on Trust - as a Trust Port, the Port of Tyne is entirely self-funding
  • Pioneering Sustainability - expected to be net zero by 2030, the Port is the operations base for the world's largest offshore windfarm and becoming a hub for electric vehicle manufacturing
  • Driven by Innovation - the Port will soon be implementing site wide 5G and has been home to UK Maritime's only Innovation Hub, a centre of excellence for cross-industry collaboration and knowledge transfer since 2019

As part of its brand transformation, the Port has also re-energised its colour palette, adopting fresh new colours inspired by nature and the local area to further emphasise the importance of environmental sustainability to its future success. Matt Beeton, CEO at the Port of Tyne commented:

"The Port has changed and we've worked tirelessly to deliver the intentionally ambitious targets set within the Tyne 2050 strategic framework, so it was time for us to visualise this transformation and change the way we look. Our new visual direction has the River Tyne at its heart because these waters are the beating heart of our region and key to our green economy. We have taken inspiration from the twists and turns of the river to capture the energy here at the Port and used its unique form to create dynamic branding that reflects where we are today and our ongoing vision for the future."

Jamie Steane, Associate Professor in Communication Design at Northumbria University spoke enthusiastically of the rebrand, waxing lyrical about the ‘Navigo’ font used and how the use of the river as a motif will resonate with people from the region, while Tom Chant, Chief Executive Officer, Society of Maritime Industries (SMI) said:

"It is by no coincidence that the SMI is hosting its annual conference in the North East. As the UK's maritime engineering trade body, we sought a region with not only a rich maritime heritage but one that also has a clear and exciting vision for the future. The Port of Tyne's ‘No Ordinary Port' message exemplifies that and their rebrand is a further example of the port's forward-looking strategy."

Key to the port’s continued development will be the onoing expansion of the marine energy sector, particularly the ever larger components for the offshore wind farms which are blossoming in the region and Tom Nightingale, North East Stakeholder Manager at Equinor, concluded:

"The Port of Tyne really is no ordinary port, with a clear vision for green growth aligned to our own vision as operator of the world's largest offshore wind farm. With our operations and maintenance base located in the port of Tyne, we are delighted to see trust, sustainability and innovation at the heart of this great brand, which is already iconic across the region and maritime industry."