When it came time to refresh the corporate identity for our Agency the “why” was easy – after working remotely for over a year, we were preparing to not just return to the office, but move into a new space. A fresh start felt like the perfect time for a fresh logo.
Designing our new space, we used many of the colors and finishes from our office in Natick, now refined and updated. This was the approach we also took when refreshing our logo – building upon what worked from the previous version while fixing some of the issues we had run into over the years.
Starting the evaluation process, we knew we liked the bold font from our most recent logo. While our name is legally Sundin Associates, we added “Marketing” to the logo as a way to reinforce our position as a marketing-first agency providing a full range of supporting services. The treatment also gave us the flexibility for variations supporting our specialties, Financial Marketing and Sports Marketing.
We also knew the “Sun” needed to be replaced as it took up too much space, did not have the strength to stand on its own and defied reversing. Reminiscent of superhero symbols, our new “S” icon is a balance of two parts – strategy and execution – which can be used as both a primary symbol when the logo will not fit the channel, as well as a design element.
Our color palette also received some attention – a deeper orange and brighter red, paired with cool grey brings depth and warmth to the identity which was lacking (despite the use of a sun!). Where in the past we would have started by using Pantone® colors for our new identity, we instead started with the digital channels, selecting colors based on their HEX and RGB values.
That’s not to say we didn’t also create some of the old school necessities including business cards, letterhead, and, with our new office, outdoor signage. Digital versions of letterhead and presentation slides were also created.
Before wrapping up this first phase of our new corporate identity, we took the time to take care of ourselves just as we would a client – preparing a complete set of logo files (color, black/white, and reversed) and design standards, which will help us maintain and extend our Agency’s branding easily.
