SLANT Re-Engineers the ADC Brand

A year after working with ADC Engineering on the logo design and signage concepts for its Mount Pleasant Memorial Waterfont Park project, ADC Engineering approached SLANT to help evolve its own image.

During our Discovery process, we uncovered a company that had dramatically increased its scope of services over their 20-year history but has remained committed to a forward-looking approach to engineering. What they needed was to update the visual expression of their identity to reflect all of this. The goal was to better define who they are and organize their diverse service offerings.

We know what you're thinking: engineers are boring. Well, you'd be wrong. In fact, the project was a blast. We received great client input (which we love) and they weren't afraid for us to explore creativity (which we love even more).

The end product fit together like pieces of a puzzle. Here's a recap of the results of our collaboration:

UPDATED NAME & LOGO

By changing the name from "ADC Engineering" to "ADC Engineering Specialists" the focus is placed on the true assets of ADC: its people and their depth of knowledge, resources and skill sets.

The new logo brings a bolder, more modern and fresh look all while maintaining the visual recognition of their original logo.

OLD LogoNEW Coporate Logo

NEW TAGLINE

We also developed a tagline that provides a one sentence statement summarizing the company's philosophy and passions:

Progressive By Nature.

It speaks to their progressive approach and allows for multiple interpretations:

• Being progressive is in their blood
• They work with nature in aspects of their projects
• Their progressive approach results in "green" or nature-friendly practices

NEW DIVISIONS

We organized ADC's services into departments and set up co-brand identities for each - site services, building envelope and structural. This allows them to to distinguish or individually promote particular services.

The brand doesn't just stop there.  All of this plays out through business collateral, report covers, name tags, building signage, promotional banners, website...you name it!  And to be sure that ADC maintains brand consistency with ease, we provided them with a comprehensive 30 page brand guidelines document.

Congrats ADC Engineering Specialists, you're lookin' good!

SLANT rebrands J. Henry Stuhr, est. 1865

 

J. Henry Stuhr, Inc. has been serving the Charleston lowcountry for almost 150 years. But despite their history, they were struggling to leverage their long-standing legacy of personal service as a differentiator from their many competitors. After conducting an in-depth analysis of their existing brand and marketing efforts, as well as their competitors and industry in general, SLANT Media undertook a brand redesign, now visible throughout its business collateral and the new www.jhenrystuhr.com

Old LogoNew design strengthens "crest" and incorporates founder's signature.“We felt strongly about drawing inspiration from Stuhr’s roots, while also conveying their modern approach in providing services beyond those of a traditional funeral home.” said Christopher Cecil, SLANT’s Creative Director. 

The new logo updates the crest that has long been a part of Stuhr’s identity. And instead of putting the company name in script font, SLANT utilized an original J. Henry Stuhr signature that was found during research. “This combination of logo elements conveys the century-old identity of the company and illustrates their personal touch,” said SLANT’s Will Bullock, the branding project design lead. “Then, from a design standpoint, we use these traditional elements in more modern ways - for example, extending beyond the edge of a business card, on a surreal peaceful backdrop on their website.”

Business Card - FrontBusiness Card - BackIn addition to providing information about burials, cremation, aftercare and advance planning, the website also has an obituary section with personalized pages so family and friends can access information about the deceased, the services and convey condolences to the family via an online guestbook. 

“We feel fortunate our business’s heritage has had a place within the history of Charleston. And while being extremely proud of our history, as a business we need to convey our leadership as a forward-looking provider of funeral services,” says Catherine Stuhr, Vice President of J. Henry Stuhr, Inc. “We are thrilled with our updated identity and the additional services and information we can provide on our new website.”

Best and Worst Identity Redesigns of 2009

Design blog BrandNew (a division underconsideration.com) has posted their list of the best and worst Identity Redesigns of 2009.  Definately some dead-on entries in there, but I'm not so sure I agree with some either.  

Check it out here: 
The Best and Worst Identities of 2009

What do you think?