Case Study
Designing a sustainable cosmetic brand for Owl in a Towel.
Owl in a Towel is a natural cosmetic brand with a focus on sustainable and cruelty-free products made in the United States. They are a young brand and needed an identity that was professional, while still encapsulating the grass-roots charm of the company and showcasing the eco-friendly mission that they have worked so hard to execute.
Creating a Visual System
With Owl and a Towel’s focus being on sustainability, it meant that a wide-range of packaging materials and types would be used for their products. This presented the challenge of developing a flexible system that would work in all situations. To solve this, we developed a modular system for the typography and icons that can quickly be modified for products of all shapes and sizes.
Our clients’ words say everything.
“Grant Burke is a complete professional. He applies his talent and experience to help clients transform ideas into visually compelling branding. He’s also extremely responsive, which is key to productivity and meeting deadlines. As a start-up, I appreciate the opportunity to collaborate with someone who’s work product can compete with and outshine established brands.”
Kathleen O’Connor Ives, Founder
Case Study
Going minimal for the creative agency, Bobshire’s, brand identity.
In an oversaturated market, Bobshire needed to standout from the pack as top-tier branding agency. At the project launch, the goals were to establish a brand presence for this new studio and to communicate Bobshire’s core values.
Our Approach
Because Bobshire wanted a high-end look, we kept the branding very clean, minimal, and modern. Unlike most brands, we limited the amount of content and used the power of whitespace to create a sense of luxury. Furthermore, a neutral colour palette was established for the core branding. As a result, the vibrant case studies really popped against the softer visual system.
Case Study
Combining tech and construction for Safesite’s brand refresh.
Safesite launched in 2014 with a goal of making construction and heavy industries safer through their mobile app. Like many startups, they started with a placeholder brand identity that was never intended to be a long-term solution. That’s where Grant Burke came in. We were tasked with refreshing the existing visual system to bring it up to standards with their revolutionary product. One of the big challenges was to make the branding appealing for both the construction end-users and tech investors.
What we did
- Brand Identity Refresh
- Image Library Development
- Brand Guidelines Manual
- Website Design
- Mobile App UI & UX Design
- Marketing Collateral
- Office Signage
- Investor Pitch Deck
Our Approach
The solution we developed focused on pairing masculine and industrial elements with modern typography, whitespace and a clean colour palette. This created a strong, but refined look that appealed to Safesite’s two target groups.
We started with a strong logo that pairs customer typography with a simple, but memorable monogram icon. The square shape works perfect on the app/social icons and the stacked segments of the “S” give a nod to the construction industry.
Mobile App Design
When Safesite approached us to re-design the mobile app, they already had a large userbase that was actively using their software in the field. We strategically designed the new interface to respect the existing flow, while improving the experience and applying the new branding. The result was an app that looked more professional, but felt familiar to Safesite’s loyal users.
Case Study
Bringing ShiftRight’s Branding up to speed with their growing consultancy.
ShiftRight is a Toronto-based consulting business focused on guiding large organizations through restructuring, leadership development and cultural change. As the company grew from a one-woman operation to a firm, their branding needs also expanded. Equally as important, ShiftRight needed to be seen as an innovator in their industry and stand out from their competitors. They needed a modern brand identity, responsive website design, and a user-friendly pitch deck.
Our Approach
Because ShiftRight’s business is centred on change, we wanted to portray the the concept of transformation in the branding. This was achieved through a vibrant blue-to-green gradient paired with bright and uplifting imagery. The result was an eye-catching identity that helped the brand portray their experience and out-of-the-box solutions to difficult business challenges. Finally, we extended the visual system to a report templates and a pitch deck to make day-to-day operations more efficient.
Our clients’ words say everything.
“I had the pleasure of working with Grant during the development of my company brand/website. I was thoroughly impressed with his creative designs and his accommodating nature. He has a genuine desire to ensure his clients’ expectations are not only met but are exceeded! He is flexible and goes above and beyond to get the job done. With minimal guidance he was able to materialize a brand identity that accurately reflected what I had envisioned. I would highly recommend his services!”
Aymen Dewji, Managing Partner
Case Study
Breathing new life into a 45+ year old tape brand.
We were approached by ECHOtape, a large North American commercial tape manufacturer, to refresh their brand identity and package design. They are family run and have been producing specialty tapes for the manufacturing and construction industries for over 45 years. As with many heritage brands, ECHOtape felt their branding had become outdated and disjointed. Above all, they needed a fresh approach to their brand identity that would highlight the core values that had helped their company grow.
Our Approach
Because of ECHOtape’s long history, our strategy was to leave the core elements that have strong brand recognition and focus on the way they were implemented. We took all of the disjointed pieces and transformed them into a cohesive visual system with clear rules for easy execution. The system included refined typography, a signature icon set, and signature photography styles that highlighted the products and people of ECHOtape.
Our clients’ words say everything.
“Working with Grant and his team has been an extreme pleasure. They are knowledgeable and responsive and have helped us keep our brand identity in check. I cannot recommend them enough.”
Risa Edelstein, Director of Marketing
Package Design
ECHOtape’s package design was a key element of the brand refresh. As one of the industry’s leaders for innovation, they needed packaging that accurately reflected the quality of their products.
In order to achieve this, we redesigned the tape labels to be clean, modern and very legible. An emphasis was placed on hierarchy and making the product information more digestible. Furthermore, we developed a modular system that had the flexibility to handle all of the content variations across ECHOtape’s product lines. This made the production of the new labels very efficient and cost-effective.
Case Study
Bringing personality to a Magic Water Brewpub’s branding.
Faced with the challenge of penetrating an oversaturated craft beer market, the Florida-based brewpub approached us to develop a unique brand identity. They wanted an identity that would match the rustic vibe of the restaurant’s interior, while still feeling interesting, approachable and memorable.
Our Approach
Our solution included a complete series of brewery/restaurant themed character illustrations paired with rustic imagery. We developed eye-catching logos for over a dozen beers, a user-friendly website and social templates to make promotion upcoming events and specials easy-breezy.
Our clients’ words say everything.
“I approached Grant with a large task, with very little guidance. Make my business look pretty. Based on my logo alone, Grant developed a complete identity for my brew pub. Beer logos, hand-drawn art work, email marketing templates, website and marketing brand guideline. Every new piece added to my vision, causing me to feed him more work, which led to an increase in my vision, which led to more work. Grant did all this over the phone and email. I was able to split up the work into bite sized chunks (and bite sized payments). Grant is easy to talk to and delivers on-time.”
Robert Reno, Owner
