Mission patches
We celebrate teamwork in different ways. Mission patch stickers are an important part of this.
When a team finishes a big delivery milestone, we celebrate by creating a unique patch. We give these stickers to the people who did the work, as a small - but meaningful - token of thanks.
This tradition began at NASA in the 1960s. Mission patch stickers are now used in many private and public organisations.
# Our mission patches
# Export Service - public beta: 17 December 2021
The different colours focused into a light beam represents different parts of the product coming together.
# China Export Listing Service: 13 October 2021
The worker bee represents the huge effort of the team, working together to deliver a service in 10 days. It also refers to honey, one of the non-prescribed goods included in the service.
# Agriculture Export Service: private beta 30 June 2021
The iceberg represents the significant effort behind the scenes to support this release.
The inspiration came from how the delivery manager described the team's effort.
# Agriculture Export Service: Export Readiness - scaling to 50
The grown wheat represents services that are ready for release. The growing wheat around it represents many services that will release in the future.
The inspiration came from the senior designer of the team.
# Design patches as a team
Please follow this guidance. We would like all mission patches to have a clear and consistent style.
Product managers can start the process of developing a patch. But it should be co-designed with the team.
# Agree on an image that tells a story
The patch should use a visual metaphor that everyone agrees represents one of these things:
- the service
- the team
- context
- challenges.
Choose an image that makes sense to any user, but think beyond cliches (such as lightbulbs and dart boards).
Get inspiration from other people's patches:
- Metaphors we sticker by - GOV.Design
- GOV.UK 17 October Mission Patch - Pinterest
- Why mission patch stickers matter - Crydon Digital
Mission patches can use agricultural images, or not.
# Illustrate in a simple style
Create the image in a simple and flat style, with a range of colours.
Don't add lots of detail - give the hero element space and emphasis.
The outer ring should only include:
- service name
- stage or milestone
- date.
# Design using a vector tool
Design the patch using a vector-based app. For example, Adobe Illustrator or Affinity Designer.
Don't use raster or photo tools, like Photoshop. Also avoid Figma as it doesn't support wrapping text.
Artwork specifications:
- Patch size - 50mm diameter with 2mm bleed beyond the edge of sticker
- Font – Open Sans at least 9pt
- Image format - illustrations in CMYK colour space, and all fonts converted to outlines
- Print stock - full colour on white vinyl sticker