Explorers, for young people ages 14 to 18, is the fourth age-bracketed program in British Scouting. The program presents traditional Scouting opportunities such as learning how to be a servant leader, but Explorers also learn real-life work and fun skills that safely channel their natural risk-taking proclivities.
Design firm Red Stone recently rebranded the program, which was started in 2002. The new logo, an “e” in the form of a compass, is vastly different from the bland original fleur-de-lis/name lock-up design. Animated or static, it suggests being in motion, especially in the outdoors.
A suite of bold and very adaptable patterns is drawn from the logo, as well as from the iconic Explorer neckerchief. These graphics suggest the excitement and challenges that Scouts present. Unstaged photos of young people having fun and a plain-speaking tone of voice round out the identity.
According to the Red Stone website, the new brand “captures the spirit of being part of an Explorers unit—the friendship, the energy, the realness, the randomness…. The strategy is built on the insight that young people are exhausted by the pressure of expectation in both school and life, leaving little room for curiosity, exploration and personal growth. The new proposition offers a bluntly different alternative, intentionally positioning Explorers as a place where the journey matters as much as the destination.”