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GMI Gets a Fresh Look... And More
The mission of GMI is to produce and present world-class research that fuels emerging mission movements and leaders. That hasn't changed. So why the rebranding?
We realized that a different presentation of GMI's identity would help more people take better advantage of the variety of ways we can help them accomplish their mission and better position the ministry for greater effectiveness.
For a long time, we have been known as Global Mapping International, or simply Global Mapping. With "mapping" as our middle name, most people partnering with us have come to think of us as the cartographers of global mission. We're grateful for the effectiveness God has given us in helping mission agencies map their worlds. But since our beginning in 1983, there has always been something more foundational that drove the GMI ministry. Our core has always been a focus on research and information with mapping being a primary way to present and interact with strategic mission information. In fact, "Global Research and Mapping Project" (GRAMP) was almost used as our founding name.
So, today, how do we better communicate GMI's historic research core integrated with our expanding mapping ministry? Our rebranding process focused on three elements.
First, we developed a strong new tagline: "Strategic Mission Research and Mapping." We are committed to supporting God's mission in the world, to promoting applied mission research, and to mapping that information (as you know, the word mapping is much broader than geography today). Our desire is to focus on what's vital, key and strategic for advancing the mission of those we serve.
Then, we decided to feature "GMI" rather than "Global Mapping International" as our primary name. Many people already call us GMI and there's no reason to change that. It is the natural connection that many of you have with us and with our online presence that provides you with so many resources, www.gmi.org.
Finally, we created a new logo, a better graphic representation of our DNA as a ministry. It communicates that the world is our scope of research and ministry. We help leaders see the world and see their own work within the context of God's world.
The gold arch symbolizes the glory of God and his Kingdom increasingly breaking across the whole earth – which is why we do what we do! And, it reminds us of GMI's original slogan back in the early 1980s: "bringing light to the task." We bring light in the form of insights that help the Body of Christ reveal God's light to a dark world.
Flowing from the world is a sea of data, shown by the multi-shaded blue dots arranged in a histogram. GMI draws out research from all of this data to highlight what is going on in God's world.
The single round, gold dot carries a wealth of meaning for us. Rather than drowning in an over-abundance of data, our task is to highlight significant findings, to help our partners gain insight that is critical for their strategic decision making. Serving as part of the letter "i" in our name, it acknowledges that GMI is intricately engaged with the data, organizing and interpreting it to draw out points of light. Its unique shape and color among the other dots symbolizes our commitment to innovation rather than conformity. Perhaps most importantly, it reminds us of our unfailing commitment to the "gold standard" of integrity and excellence in our work.
Moving from the upper case "GMI" in our previous logo to the lower case "gmi" at the base of our new logo is intended to communicate a genuine humility. We are positioned as servants, seeking to undergird and support the increasing effectiveness of church and mission leaders around the world.
Overall, our new look – including the choice of the colors blue and black with gold accents – is intended to communicate core values of GMI being trustworthy, informed, supportive, innovative, stimulating, adaptable and engaged.
Our friends may not think of all this every time they see our logo, but we hope they will experience these values every time we serve them.
Click here to email our team with any comments about the new GMI look.
