Case Study: McKinstry Brand Refresh
Adobe InDesign Proposal Template Cover Design
Adobe InDesign Proposal Template Design
Refreshed Vinyl Wall Graphics
Adobe InDesign Proposal Template Cover Design
A brand refresh was necessary to modernize the look, tone, and presentation of the marketing materials. I modernized the existing visual equity, while maintaining a connection to the preceding brand identity.
The Challenge
Established in 1960 as a piping and plumbing company, McKinstry is now a full-service design, build, operate, and maintain firm with more than 1,500 employees. Leading up to its 60th anniversary, the company embarked on a visual campaign to clearly define its corporate identity and values. The revised mission and values would be prominently displayed as environmental signage to reinforce their usage in everyday work, foster a sense of community, and establish credibility and trust within the organization.
The Solution
My client decided on a brand refresh to modernize the look, tone, and presentation of their marketing materials. I was brought in to contemporize the existing visual equity, while maintaining a visual connection to the preceding brand identity.
The Creative Brief
I summarized the goals, overall strategy, limitations, and deliverables in a creative brief. The purpose of the brand refresh was to modernize the look, tone, and presentation of both internal and external marketing materials. My client decided to keep the logo but freshen the look with an expanded color palette, new iconography, and a modern photography approach. I expanded the design system by introducing an infographic library, ownable templates, and a rollout plan. For the deliverables, I needed to create fresh recognition with a new look, tone, and style for the following:
⦁ Proposal template
⦁ Sell sheet templates
⦁ Tradeshow exhibit
⦁ Presentation slide decks
⦁ Custom iconography
⦁ Environmental graphics
The limitations were challenging. The company would pay for new environmental signage and photography, but not for a brand audit or customer research. I needed to rely on insights from my research and feedback from internal stakeholders.
In my research, I noticed inconsistencies in the visual communications between regions and departments. Instability in the visual style was distracting from the core message and causing brand confusion. My biggest challenge was unifying the marketing communications under one visual system.
Mood Board
I chose mood boards to set the visual direction of the project and help stakeholders agree on a direction to avoid unnecessary and duplicate work. The mood boards also helped avoid any misunderstandings that may result from trying to describe a design concept verbally. I presented my stakeholders with a mood board displaying fonts, stock photography, colors, graphics, and textures. I included explanations for certain elements to illuminate how each individual part contributed to the overall theme.
Choosing a Color Palette
McKinstry has a large color palette; however, one particular shade of blue is predominantly represented, often muted behind a transparent, steel texture. Transparencies were often applied to secondary colors, while tertiary colors were relegated to elaborate charts and graphs buried in proposals. I decided to incorporate all of the colors in the primary and secondary palette for marketing communications and employ the tertiary palette for internal materials highlighting the new mission and values. The new palette is fresh and modern after adjusting the color proportions and increasing the opacity. The primary color is still blue, maintaining a visual connection to the previous brand identity.
Choosing a Typeface
Verdana was the primary typeface for the majority of marketing communications and proposal materials, despite having two other proprietary typefaces; Stag Sans and Calibri. I chose to reserve the classic, no-nonsense Stag Sans Light font for headlines only and replace Verdana with the more modern, subtle typeface Calibri as most proposal documents are read electronically and Calibri renders more clearly on screen.
New Iconography
I developed a set of custom iconography that can be used for proposals, emails, social media, and presentations. Icons effectively communicate wordy concepts and are suitable for a finger-operated user interface. I also prepared an equipment icons toolkit for employees to reference, which included more than 300 icons in vector format, customized PowerPoint templates, and a master page of popular icons inside the corporate proposal InDesign template.
Photography
I purchased 15 new photos from iStock, based on input from stakeholders, resolution size, style, consistent lighting, and authenticity. I also prepared a stock photo catalog for employees to use for presentation materials, which includes tips and tricks for choosing images that match the customer’s content and correspond with the applicable medium. I cropped some of the existing photography to improve the visual impact, and turn the overused photos into modernized compositions.
Bringing It to Life
McKinstry’s 60th anniversary visual identity has come to life with refreshed colors, typography, iconography, and clever use of photography. The trick was to balance the old identity’s strength with the exciting aspects of the new identity. The tension between old and new makes the brand refresh successful. The result is a cohesive visual and conceptual system that honors the spirit of the original brand.