When we first met

Valpo recognized that their long standing traditions and history of stellar education needed to be better represented in today’s education landscape.

Val·pa·rai·so[val-puh-RAY-zoh]
- noun

1. A city in NW Indiana.
2. Spanish: Paradise valley.

They knew they’d evolved from the days of when it was founded rich in tradition and strict scholarship. Today they are a thriving, dynamic, integrated community of students and learners coming to Valpo at different points in their personal journeys.

Valpo is ready to move into new frontiers wielding an evolved brand that reflects their past, present, and their bright future.

The Challenge

Bring clarity and understanding to who Valpo is today while representing and respecting their past.

For Valpo, this is about stewarding perceptions among students – past, present, future – community members, stakeholders, and education competitors. We had to deliver a new, fresh, and unique identity that affects every aspect of the school – everything from athletic apparel to business cards. It was time to transform their outside identity to match their internal values.

The Plan of Attack

Take Valparaiso University’s research studies involving thousands of members of the target market, campus community, and beyond, and translate them into creative solutions.

What was revealed:
Valpo emerged showing their true colors. Their personality provokes characteristics of the quality, service-driven, personal journey that defines each student and employee’s experiences. They are rooted in the history and legacy of a 150-year institution, but demonstrate that today’s values are focused on an open, integrated, thoughtful community.

The Solution

Brand Identity
Brand Identity is the tangible representation of your brand; It comprises all of the things you can see and sense. Your brand identity is a strategic asset that generates incredible equity within your target audience. We translate your brand’s aspirations into a calculated design system.

Color Pallete
A complete color palette, including primary, accent, and neutral colors was developed for Valpo. Color is one of the strongest ties to memory, and the consistent application of a palette is of primary importance. We gave Valpo the best of both worlds, by preserving the color equity generated for well over a century, and uniting it with a progressive accent color that supports their newly established brand vision.

Design System
Brand identity is not achieved through one, or even a few components. Rather, it is a system that works in harmony to represent a brand accurately. Many moving parts must be harnessed strategically to eliminate brand distortion and establish the new “face” of the organization. We constructed a rigorous design system that preserves the integrity of Valpo’s new assets, but also affords the flexibility to innovate based on media needs.

Product
With a new brand firmly in place, it’s time to open the bottle and let the genie out. This means designing and developing touchpoints! We worked on a wide variety of materials for Valparaiso, from print, web, and signage, to apparel and uniforms. We even redesigned their brand new basketball court. The beauty of good brand design is that it extends to every face of an organization, invigorating whatever it touches.

Print Materials
No brand design is ever complete without a proper stationary package—we designed multiple tiers of materials based on formal, informal, and graduate usage.

They’re a small company in Pasco, Washington that’s delivering big on a global scale.

When We First Met

Gen-X came to us for a website, what they got was a brand revolution.

The Challenge

Position Gen-X Energy Group as an industry and subject matter expert.

Gen-X was built from a band of entrepreneurial friends with big ideas and huge drive. The company grew fast and furious and needed to be taken seriously on a national, even global level. They came to us to help tell their story and build their reputation.

The Plan of Attack

We did in-depth, in-person research involving all key employees in a day long workshop aimed at uncovering insights and values unique to Gen-X.

What was revealed:

• Primary, secondary and tertiary audiences
• Existing, emerging, aspirational capabilities
• Gen-X’s Only-ness
• Brand Lenses
• Key Attributes
• Positioning Statements

The Solution

Brand Identity
Brand Identity is the tangible representation of your brand; It comprises all of the things you can see and sense. Your brand identity is a strategic asset that generates incredible equity within your target audience. Here, we turn your Brand Dynamics into a calculated design system.

Color Pallete
A complete color palette, including primary, accent, and neutral colors have been developed to support the Gen-X brand. Colors are one of the strongest ties to memory, and the consistent application of our palette is of primary importance. Repetitive and accurate use of this palette will build recognition, sustain differentiation, and distinguish Gen-X Energy Group from competitors.

Brand Architecture
This chart shows the relationships between the technologies, facilities, and products in the Gen-X business line. These text treatments, their size, color, and spacial arrangements are highly intentional. This suite of text lockups serve as text-based signatures in brochures and other collateral for their respective technology, facility, or product.

Design System
The Gen-X design system is constructed to afford flexibility in creative expression while maintaining the integrity of our brand identity. This blueprint shows you the basic framework for creating an on-brand vertically-oriented application.

Product
Gen-X was ready to take it’s product to the shelves, but not without the proper packaging. Below is the premiere of Gen-X Energy Group’s new product label, designed to be extendable across their lines of renewable fuels and additives.

Website
Perhaps the most consumed touchpoint for any brand, Gen-X’s website needed more than a facelift—it needed an overhaul. We turned this digital asset inside out, from architecture and content, to interface design, crafting a brand new web experience.