Walsh Whiskey is one of the leading independent distillers of branded, super-premium craft Irish whiskey. The brand, in its new home at Royal Oak, works with local farms and communities in order to create charismatic Irish whiskies of exceptional quality.
RichardsDee were appointed to evolve the existing identity for Walsh Whiskey to reflect the relocation of a new world-class distillery at Royal Oak. The new location is set on the grounds of Holloden House at Royal Oak, which is framed by two hundred-year-old oak trees. Our task was to create an authentic, premium visual identity with a personal and vibrant visitor experience.
Working with our brand experience partners, studiodesignsquared, we engaged in a collaborative process with Walsh Whiskey and Bord Bia. Workshops enabled us to gain a thorough understanding of the estate’s history and we set about mapping the customer journey to ensure all touchpoints were considered and evaluated from the outset.
Once this stage had been completed, we quickly began developing creative territories that were authentic to the region and true to the values and culture of the brand and family. These creative territories examined themes around place, people, product and process and were streamlined with the client to deliver a solution that is evocative of the future experience.
It was essential that the visual identity celebrated the beauty of Royal Oak and the history of Irish whiskey production. The mark is rooted in the estate, focusing on the oak tree, evoking a sense of place. The symbol features an Irish Crown, reinforcing the heritage associated with Royal Oak and the logotype is a bespoke hand lettered font, with a Celtic ‘A’. The royal blue and copper colour palette and bold, confident use of typography results in a rich and vibrant system. This new identity is now being implemented throughout the visitor centre, communications and location signage.
Bord Na Mona has ambitious plans to become number one in each of their chosen segments, employ 3,000 people, turnover in excess of €1billion by 2030 and reposition the business as global leaders of the future.
We were invigorated by Bord Na Mona’s ambition. But we knew their current brand experience was not up to their new vision.
Print & Display are Ireland’s largest and longest established printers. With 40 years of expertise, Print & Display partner with Irish and international brands to design and deliver strategically impactful solutions into retail that deliver commercial success. Print & Display engaged RichardsDee to reposition the business and interrogate if the name and visual identity represents what the business does today. Thereafter the brief was to create a brand system and craft a visual language to reflect this new positioning and their big ambition for the future.
After interviewing and workshopping with stakeholders, customers and employees, we set about developing the positioning. We identified two prevalent themes within the company – a commitment to customer and craft for over 40 years and a determination to create visual impact at point of purchase. These two elements became the cornerstone of the story culminating in the new brand proposition ‘Creating Visual Impact Since 1970.
The ambition for the future extends far beyond Printing and Displaying, so we developed the name P+D which builds on the company’s history but establishes a platform for its next stage of evolution.
This new brand story enabled us to celebrate the creators, makers and contributors that make the company the success that it is. We commissioned brand photography that elevates the pride, passion, determination and commitment the designers; printers, structural designers and client people have in buckets.
The visual identity explores the idea of relationships; the relationship between the company and client and the relationship between print and digital. The ‘P+D’ letters were crafted as mirror images of each other reflecting the future commitment to both digital and print.
Colour inspiration was driven from P+D’s world, which is a world of fresh, confident and bold colour. Language and messaging was central in elevating the pride, care and creativity that is delivered daily. The new system is bold, full of personality and gives creative marketers a view of what one should expect when working with P+D.
The Large Industry Energy Network (LIEN) is a voluntary network, facilitated by SEAI, of a significant number of the most prominent organisations operating in Ireland, who all adopt a proactive approach to energy management. It has grown into one of the world’s leading energy efficiency networks. Every year LIEN publishes a printed Annual Report that serves to acknowledge the energy and financial savings achieved by its members. The LIEN Annual Reports of the past were data and statistic heavy so we identified the real challenge as presenting a year’s worth of data from all members into one concise, easy to read and engaging format. Our core objective was to increase engagement by delivering the information in a way that made it easier for members to compare their energy savings vis a vis their peers, and equally worked to elevate the benefits of LIEN in a compelling way to attract potential new members.
We made the decision early on to develop a digitised Annual Report as it allowed us to segment a large volume of information and present it in a more dynamic format. It also gave us the opportunity to create a more engaging, interactive interface. Every piece of content was designed with purpose, we utilised large pull out graphics and animated charts that bring the figures to life. We proposed a video message from the CEO be included to underline the importance of network to SEAI. We developed a searchable company database with a comparable data function allowing companies to benchmark themselves against others in their sector. The result is an Annual Report has strong (proven) engagement and underlines LIEN’s commitment to a sustainable future. This new online annual report, published in February 2015 is interactive, engaging, informative and, most of all, memorable.
Crios Group are twelve of Ireland’s leading, high performance Business Process Outsourcing companies who are highly competitive in their home market, yet have come together to promote Ireland as a world class location for complex and evolving outsourcing. We were appointed to develop a brand strategy, name, brand identity and digital communications that would work hard and enable Crios Group to successfully motivate international business leaders and BPO selection executives to seriously consider Ireland as a destination for their BPO requirements.
The members of the Crios Group are testament to Ireland’s proven knowledge, skill and experience in providing world class Customer Experience. We looked to Irish heritage as inspiration for naming this new collective. We chose the name Crios after the Crios Belt, which is a traditional Irish woven belt and a strong symbol of Irish identity and strength. It was used at sea to identity members of a particular family and was made out of linen yarn which is the strongest textile in the world. The new name serves as a strong symbol of the strength of the collective.
Bespoke photography was commissioned to capture the collaborative nature of the group. The new identity is fresh, modern and has subtle references to Irishness. The final delivery was a highly visual, responsive digital platform that would be a key customer touchpoint for the group going forward.
Challenge:
With so many charity brands competing to command the public’s attention, Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind needed to find a way to bring all their regional and national activity together and present one brand image to their diverse audiences enabling them to drive awareness and deliver against their ambitious fundraising targets. With their loyal supporters predominantly of an older demographic, they also needed to improve their appeal to a younger audience and recruit them as volunteers to ensure the longevity of the organisation. We were tasked with helping to clarify their position, broaden their appeal and help them to engage with supporters more effectively. The existing communications were ad hoc and gave little scope for creating broader impact. They needed a branding solution that was simple to manage yet gave them an effective presence that would work in schools, workplaces, on the high street and online, and allow them to gain cut-through and motivate audiences to donate both time and money to their very worthy cause.
Opportunity:
The creative execution built on the new brand essence of ‘Optimism’, which reflects the positive impact the organisation has on the lives of their clients. A vibrant colour palette and energetic typographic style gives the brand a distinct and recognisable personality. When used in combination with our bold graphic device, which represents a ‘window of optimism’, the result is a brand system which is simple to manage and highly impactful. A new strapline “together we can change a life” was introduced which has both a call to action to the public to get involved, as well as speaking to the working partnership between the dogs and their clients that can have a profound and long-lasting impact on the lives of their clients but also their families. The result is an accessible new brand with a fresh confidence, and a visual identity that brings consistency and vibrancy to their communications.
uSwitch is the UK and Irish independent online price comparison site, enabling a switching platform to bring the best deals to the market. However, due to a MBO of the parent company it was a requirement to introduce a new brand into the Irish market and they approached us to develop a new brand name, brand proposition, brand identity and communications system that clearly conveys what uSwitch does in a compelling way to consumers.
uSwitch is an unbiased platform focused on providing switching information in two areas: Utilities (Gas/Electricity) and Broadband. The platform had built strong loyalty and recognition since its launch which we were determined to retain from a naming perspective.
Our robust brand naming process to delivered a number of opportunities across many brand naming typologies from conceptual to evocative, functional to descriptive. The name needed much consideration as it was important it could be trademarked with ease. Our final recommendation was Switcher, a descriptive name that is upbeat, active and energetic. We also developed the proposition ‘So Simple, So Switch’ which elevates the ease at which consumers can switch on the platform.
In tandem with the brand name we created a new brand identity that is fresh, approachable and friendly. The new brand ensures recognition with the past through colour and the iconic hand is used in many communications to build awareness and recall.
The name and brand identity were trademarked with ease. The brand launched in March 2015. www.switcher.com
Devenish Nutrition is focused on delivering sustainable agricultural solutions through innovative research and technology. A leader within the Agri-Technology industry, with big ambitions for future growth, Devenish Nutrition asked us to create a brand and creative strategy to help make that happen.
Beyond Nutrition
Through research with key stakeholders and customers, we identified that Devenish’s key differentiator was their focus on building long-term, mutually beneficial relationships that go beyond nutritional products and advice, but focus on adding value at every stage of the supply chain. Our brand proposition ‘beyond nutrition’ was born.
We simplified the name from ‘Devenish Nutrition’ to the shorter, more confident ‘Devenish’ accompanied by the substantiator ‘Beyond Nutrition’. Beyond Nutrition also formed the basis of our creative strategy and is translated throughout communications and key messaging to create clear space between them and their competition.
Galvanizing the group
Headquartered out of Belfast with a global footprint, Devenish wanted to build its corporate reputation worldwide and present itself and its portfolio of brands in a consistent manner throughout its 3 core markets: UK & Ireland, International and the USA.
A simple, yet impactful identity system was created using a masterbrand approach to focus on building the Devenish brand equity across the key geographies. This system has been rolled out across advertising and communication collateral, packaging and exhibition graphics to date.
In tandem with the identity creation, we guided an employee engagement strategy to align employees behind the company vision and bring the values to life in a meaningful and engaging way for everyone who worked in the organisation.
The refreshed visual and verbal identity showcases the forward thinking innovative approach the company takes to all challenges big or small, local or global and combines it with their deeply ingrained partnership ethos, to deliver a compelling and uniquely Devenish graphic language.
The Institute of Designers Ireland is the professional body representing the interests of Irish based designers. The organisation was in need of refocusing its proposition and reconnecting with the design community in Ireland. RichardsDee were approached to interrogate the IDI’s positioning and develop a strong communications platform to enable future growth.
‘Leading Design’; a strategic brand repositioning for the Institute of Designers Ireland.
We started by reinvesting back into the Institute of Designers in Ireland name to reposition them as the leading organization for designers in Ireland. The proposition ‘Leading Design’ was created to confirm this. Simplifying the brand identity brings a renewed sense of confidence and the refreshed communications style are playful, dramatic and engaging.
Do you feel an affinity for Ireland and things Irish? If so, you are among our defined target market for a brand new range of Irish Celtic Jewellery. Our strategy was to position the new collection not only to tourists and the Irish diaspora but to also attract a native audience.
House of Lor jewellery is designed and crafted in Ireland, using 100% Irish gold. The collections are grounded in Irish heritage but delivered in a contemporary and confident way. In our view, this new brand initiative had significant potential appeal to a broad range of ages and audiences, both national and international. Our challenge was to create the showcase.
Creating a brand, led by creative brand storytelling.
We wanted to amalgamate folklore with fashion in order to create a unique positioning for the new brand. We put brand storytelling at the heart of the brand strategy and delivered the name HOUSE OF LOR.
LOR emanates from folklore and the addition of the descriptor HOUSE delivers strong fashion credentials to the brand. ‘Rare Irish Gold at Heart’ is our unique brand proposition as it accurately and emotively reflects the core brand truth. From a brand storytelling perspective, our client has stories worth sharing.
Elegant black & white lifestyle photography coupled with full colour imagery of the collections completes the picture, bringing the concept and the product very much alive. Are you ready to wear HOUSE OF LOR?
Not for the first time, something unique began in the nation’s ‘real’ capital. Taste a Memory Foods first set out their stall at farmer’s markets in Cork back in 2006. Soon they were selling six days a week and by 2012, the brand had achieved national distribution.
The client approached us with bold plans to move forward into the UK.
We were asked to strengthen the Taste A Memory brand identity and develop packaging design concepts for a new range of Pasta Pots. The product positioning was ‘to produce the healthiest ready meals in Ireland, bursting with flavour and goodness’ and this reputation needed to be elevated through all the brand touchpoints.
To create a full range of packaging design that achieved shelf shout, we decided to be more ‘disruptive’ in the category.
We began the brand development process by recommending a real focus on taste at the expense of the over-used ‘healthy-option’ descriptor. We reinvested in the green colour the brand owned. We created an idea around “goodness is in the bowl” which became a key visual on packaging design which will unite brand extensions.
The graphic style is rooted in farmers’ markets emphasizing the patterns and imagery associated with these events, reinforcing the brand heritage and product provenance.
We introduced a written style that communicated the new proposition in a unique and compelling way and even applied our creativity to functional packaging items such as with our creative barcode design.
Taste a Memory is now a heritage brand, replete with strong in-store imagery that speaks its name with pride.
Wexford offers heritage. Wexford offers natural beauty. Wexford offers welcome and international culture. Wexford has pretty much everything a visitor needs. What Wexford didn’t have is a cohesive central brand identity. Along with Wexford County Council, we set out to rectify that. We set about branding a destination.
Armed with our experience of a major tourism project in Ireland’s South East, we identified that Viking Wexford was distinctly different from the rest of the country. Wexford blended the old and the new in a uniquely exciting way. There is always a real-life modern buzz about this ancient place
When branding a destination, we look closely at heritage, history and the global present.
‘So Old, So New’ is our encapsulation of what Wexford represents; a proposition that roots Wexford in its local past but brings it bang up to date in the global present.
The brand identity we created is based around a Viking Script, illustrating a clear link to the town’s heritage. The ‘written’ style of the logotype is distinctive and invites ownership – it has a sense of place. A playful demeanour suggests enjoyment while allowing for abstraction and use as graphic devices.
It’s old. It’s new. Above all, it’s true.
The Children’s Rights Alliance was established in 1995 and is a coalition of over 120 organisations working to secure the rights of children in Ireland by campaigning for the full implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. The Alliance enjoys relatively good brand equity among its many stakeholders, but the positioning and implementation of objectives had become somewhat confused over the years.
To reflect the great work the Children’s Rights Alliance to today, RichardsDee were approached to do what we do best;
Deliver a compelling brand strategy project and focused brand communications
We adopted a strong collaborative approach to the brand strategy project; involving all stakeholders at an initial research stage. Everyone agreed that the Alliance needed to be more representative of their members and much more authoritative and confident in tone.
The brand strategy project would achieve this. Our response was to create a new visual identity that underlines what the organisation is fighting for, namely Children’s Rights. The proposition ‘Uniting Voices For Children’ reinforces the fact that the Alliance is a coalition with scale that brings organisations together that benefit the child while the new identity and message hierarchy allowed the Alliance much stronger cut-through, brand impact and visibility. The voiceless now have a clear and confident voice.
Did you know headaches come with a financial cost, not just a personal one? It’s estimated that work-days lost though headaches cost Irish employers almost €1m each year.
Headache Awareness Week was launched in association with Nurofen to help educate people on the types and causes of headaches as well as providing advice on how to minimise or relieve them.
As a pharmacy only brand, a core objective of the campaign was to encourage consumers into pharmacies to seek advice. Reckitt Benckiser asked us to develop a compelling brand identity and campaign platform for the initiative that would be executed across both ATL and in store environments. This required integrated brand communications with focus on a singular campaign message.
Developing a key visual for integrated brand communications is paramount.
We asked a question in order to get the right answer. We developed a Key Visual based on a big dominant question. Headache? Dehydrated?
We reinforced the link between the initiative and the solution, creating impact and cut-through in outdoor and indoor environments. We encouraged people to speak to their pharmacists. Above all, we made sure the Nurofen brand had strong standout, reinforcing its image as the number one analgesic headache brand in Ireland.
Through our integrated brand communications, the campaign worked above, below and through the line. It got into people’s heads.
Patrick Street in Cork is a pivotal place for Dunnes Stores. To mark the store’s Grand Re-Opening, they wanted to signify change by developing a new wayfinding and signage package as part of the retail design.
“We want you to come up with a fresh inviting look that’s clear, concise and creative”, the client told us. Immediately, we felt at home.
We worked with our interior and retail space design partners, Design Squared, on this brief.
Together, we developed a contemporary retail design.
An engaging space that enables clear identification, navigation and stand-out for the store owners. We examined existing retail design practices and recommended a more simplified design hierarchy, elegant typography and a more restrained use of colour.
The end result was harmonious and hard-working and delivered an end-result that now forms the template for subsequent new store roll-outs. Better value, every time.
When An Post acquired Aviva’s personal and automotive insurance products, it was agreed the Aviva customer base would be serviced out of the An Post branch network.
In order to ensure Aviva customers were transitioned with ease, RichardsDee were appointed to conduct brand naming, to develop the new brand itself, and create a retail concept for the new financial services zone that would appear in twenty four An Post branches nationwide.
The big question was how far could the An Post brand stretch?
After a robust brand naming process, we recommended the name ‘PostFinancial’
The brand naming establishes a clear financial services proposition for An Post. The new identity was simple and bold, ensuring clear focus and clarity of message.
But how could we bring the new retail concept to life in branches that were associated with a different type of customer experience?
Working closely with our interior partners DesignSquared, we developed new financial zones that optimise the existing branch layouts and create a welcoming, friendly, contemporary space, which also facilitate privacy and consultation.
The project was signed, sealed and delivered within a 16-week timeframe.
Croke Park ranks among the greatest icons of Irish identity. It’s where giants come out to play and where legends are born. Now housing over 80,000 patrons in a state-of-the-art venue, Croke Park is the 3rd largest sports stadium in Europe. It was the job of RichardsDee as the design and branding agency to make sure those thousands of eager fans could navigate their way around the stadium in comfort and safety. Not everyone can find the way to Hill 16 with their eyes closed.
There are over 5,000 signs in Croke Park. That was the magnitude of our task.
We set out to deliver clear directions and provide the stadium’s facilities team with the guidelines to implement a cohesive signage programme. We built upon the existing signage infrastructure and created an impactful, practical and effective directional system. We delivered Signage Guidelines that provide clear-cut design templates and bring certainly to everyone involved in the production process. Improved way-finding and health and safety signage makes life easier for everyone who works in, plays in or visits Croke Park. Let the Games commence!
If you’re not yet familiar with a tech company called Text Republic, then it’s our ambition to change all that. Text Republic is an exciting Irish start-up backed by over €.5m in funding from VC’s and Angel Investors – people who know how to spot real potential.
At the heart of Text Republic is a unique SMS marketing platform that drives instant revenue and encourages customer loyalty. Text Republic is already profitably engaged with over 400 small Irish businesses, but in order to capture a share of the UK market, they realised they needed to shift their brand presentation and presence up a gear. That’s when they called RichardsDee.
Our work highlights how expertly branding digital services can result in customer uptake.
Text Republic brings people together; buyers and sellers, retailers and consumers, communities and commercial concerns. Our brand proposition ‘Bringing your community to you’ captures the very essence of the Text Republic platform and service offering. Striking visual standout is created by way of a ‘megaphone’ identity icon as a sure-fire means of getting the message across.
We reviewed the world’s leading digital brands and adopted a vibrant palette that provided cut-through from the competition and delivered impact and differentiation in one go.
Through our work, we also highlighted the importance of branding digital services. Text Republic has added 260 new customers to their UK client portfolio. Importantly, the company credits our brand development as a core driver of their success.
Now that is something to shout about
Moposa marries two Irish words together – ‘Mo’ meaning ‘My’ and ‘Posadh’ meaning ‘Wedding’. Moposa, My Wedding, Our Recommendation.
To get their concept to the altar, Eventovate asked us to create the brand strategy, identity and communications style for their innovative digital platform that helps couples plan and prepare the most important day of their lives. Hotels offering the Moposa service have a unique value-added edge in the competitive wedding venue market.
The branding approach needed to create clear points of differentiation, underlining the premium brand position of the platform and elevating its simplicity and user-friendly appeal. We were engaged from the get-go.
Building on the unique name, we identified the brand’s essence as empowering couples to do things their way. We then went about confirming and elevating the premium brand positioning.
The original logotype features two ‘O’s’ of differing sizes to signify two wedding rings and ‘Create your Perfect Wedding’ became the brand descriptor that pretty much says it all.
Moposa credits our work and premium brand positioning as a core element in a successful new international commercial proposition that has seen the company extend beyond its Irish base into fifteen European countries with the US in its sights.
Cantec came to us with a problem, but a nice one. They wanted to grow. Expansion plans meant our client needed a new name, brand identity, refreshed store experience and a new communications package.
A new vision and positioning, co-created with RichardsDee, spoke of the need to develop a distinctive brand distinguished by local knowledge yet right up there with the global providers. Audacious, ambitious? We like to think so.
We’d love to say the brand name ‘Click’ name came with a quick snap of the fingers. Truth is, our brand name generation process meant we trawled through hundreds.
We arrived at “Click.ie”, a great brand name.
It is simple, easily associated with the information industry and hints that the people behind the brand are quick and easy to deal with. In line with the new company principles, we developed a store design that is contemporary, welcoming and friendly yet practical and easy to roll out. Our experience in other retail sectors enabled us draw up effective consumer promotions central to the marketing plan that were cost-saving and sales- simulating. Smart thinking, hard-working – everything clicked into place.
Every year, up to 125,000 visitors throng through Dublinia’s Viking Doors to discover what life was like in Dublin before the Rare Old Times. RichardsDee were invited to lead branding history in Christchurch. Our challenge was to re-envision the past, to enliven it afresh, and most importantly to maintain the centre’s unique character while telling the Dublinia story in an exciting and engaging way. It was time to reframe our own views of history… In rising to the aesthetic and creative challenge, we never forgot the underlying commercial reality:
Branding history by refreshing a visitor experience in a way that would result in a consistent and sustainable increase in visitor numbers.
We created solutions that elevated each of the three core areas of the visitor experience – Medieval Life, Viking World and Dublin Archaeology. Along with brand consultant Jim Dunne, our dramatic visualisations delivered a more robust identity along with a descriptor that emphasised the experience. It was strong, it was standout, it was authentic and inviting. Above all, our solution was successful. Even in the hardest years for tourism, Dublinia consistently increased its footfall. History was coming home.
The global online print and design market is worth over $20billion.
Cleverbug; one of the hottest companies in the Dublin startup economy, are on a mission to carve themselves a slice. RichardsDee were appointed to develop a name, brand identity and communications strategy to support the brand in acquiring Series A funding.
Finding a name that can be trademarked internationally and our commitment to avoiding made-up, meaningless names and abstract combinations of letters meant this project was going to prove quite challenging.
Our unique brand naming process delivered the ‘Cleverbug’ for this innovative Dublin Startup.
We then created a striking brand identity – and added ‘Designed, Printed, Delivered’ to the communications capsule. Cleverbug launched in 2012 offering micro-business the opportunity to go online to design, print and have their marketing materials delivered to their door within 24 hours. Our identity would carry beyond being a Dublin startup and into global markets.
Two years later Cleverbug extended the brand into CleverCards, a greeting card app that has a footprint in over 100 countries all over the globe. “Richards Dee’s positive attitude, passion and high energy make them a great addition to any brand and communications programme”, says Kealan Lennon, the founder of K Partners who brought this breakthrough Dublin startup to a global market.
View more of our recent work in the startup and tech space
What do you do when the company you work for is about to be no more? That was the challenge facing the management team of Mycroft Talisen who were in the process of selling the European Operations Headquarters of their company back to American owners. The moment the deal was done, MT would cease to be.
Richards Dee was set a creative challenge to originate a name, brand identity and communications platform for the new company.
We would need to reflect the clients vision of building ‘the most trusted identity Management Company in the world’.
Did we mention that we were given six weeks in which to meet the challenge?
The new company specialises in building trusted Identity & Access Management Technologies. They wanted to be seen as leaders in the sector. Having worked through our robust naming process, the name best suited to matching the ambition proved to be ‘Onaware’ – indicating the ability to be switched on and always aware.
The new name captures the tenacious management attitude and its vigilant approach to identity management.
Our brand identity is based on security, responsiveness and adaptability; our chosen symbol represents the concept of scanning, watching and filtering. A fresh colour palette and supporting fluid patters lend life to the brand concept and provides vital standout from competitors who tend to embrace the seriousness of financial institutions in their corporate imagery – phase one of becoming the most trusted identity Management Company in the world.
The Waterford Viking Triangle is a major addition to Ireland’s South East tourism offering. Set right at the heart of Ireland’s oldest city, the Triangle gives visitors a focus for exploring the architecture, trades, commercial, religious and cultural impacts of this 1000 year old Viking settlement.
This was more than direct tourism design. We set out to capture the vibrancy, authenticity, historic and contemporary relevance at the core of Waterford City.
The brand identity we designed was compelling in its graphic simplicity. The interwoven brandmark became the definitive icon that unified the many facets of the Viking Triangle’s attractions and communications. Moving beyond standard tourism design, it proclaimed craft, creativity and heritage allied to a sense of modernity and momentum.
‘It begins here’ was our brand descriptor that underpinned Waterford’s historic origins and present-day regeneration.
The overall result demonstrates a city of pride and confidence; a place in love with its past, its present, and its future.
Genio is a not-for-profit organisation that believes society will benefit by valuing all of its citizens equally.
Genio works hard to improve the lives of disadvantaged and vulnerable people living in Ireland making sure they get a fair share of whatever opportunities are available. Their entire ethos is based on the idea of inclusion.
Genio had a desire to strengthen their brand and wanted a communications platform that would easily communicate who they are and what they stand for.
Commissioned by Mindstars as design consultants on the project, we created the Genio brand identity with purpose at the heart of the communications platform and theme; connecting business and people for an inclusive society.
The look and feel is based on a radiating symbol which creates a unique brand style uniting communications and building recognition in the non for profit sector. The proposition, “Forging Alliances for an Inclusive Society” gives a clear and positive explanation of what Genio aims to achieve.
This new stronger identity conveys a great sense of purpose for the organisation and spoke directly to its many diverse audiences.
From its inception, SPSS was an international software product provider. In fact it was so successful, it mutated into IBM SPSS – thus necessitating a rebrand and name change for the Irish distributor SPSS Ireland. But change into what?
Mindstars developed the name ‘Presidion’ and commissioned us to develop a brand identity that reimagined SPSS and reinforced its primary service function in predictive analytics. We were also to seek a solution that elevated the company’s strengths in being a trusted partner of clients.
Visually supporting the rebrand to connect with customers.
The brand descriptor ‘Your Analytics Partner’, developed by Mindstars, reminds our core audience that the new company ‘resides’ as the authority in predictive analytics and it’s capacity to develop meaningful in-depth client relationships.
Our new visual identity supports the name with classic, confident typography while the use of an underscored parenthesis acts as a graphic device that unites all aspect of the communications package.
Presidion is pleased to report that the company has continued to grow since the rebrand. Recently it has recruited twenty graduates to its highly-skilled workforce and expanded its area of operations into the UK.
Ireland’s sunny South East holds a warm welcome for all. It’s a region replete with heritage and culture and blessed with an abundance of fine foods and quality accommodation. And when the sun shines … Failte Ireland South East invited us ‘to create a focussed proposition, equipping us with a core message and brand essence for national and international communications to inspire local campaigns and initiatives’. We like the word ‘inspire’.
We loved the challenge of building the South East as a desirable destination and boosting its visitor numbers. We wanted to crack on.
Strategic design led by focused insights.
We conducted dedicated focus groups to ensure our messaging would be on the right track. The insights gathered fed directly into the thinking of our strategic and design teams. We developed a brand platform that highlighted the constant range of tourist attractions and events throughout all of the five counties of the South East. We encapsulated our strategy in the creative expression ‘Forever Happening’ and designed a stylish and striking brand-mark which emphasises the location and the three key hubs.
Our solution ‘serves as an excellent catalyst for the effective marketing of the region’ is how client Gerry Breen described the outputs. Way to go.
You could think of SpeechBud as a buddy, A good buddy whose aim is to help grow your child’s speech and language ability. We were approached by the award-winning, social entrepreneur team SpeechBud to create the brand identity and package the teaching aids programme.
We were given a dual objective- to make group speech therapy easy and intuitive for children who need help in improving their speech and language skills – and help to empower parents in the process.
Logo design and brand creation for two distinct audience types.
For children, colour and imagery is important. Colour conveys mood, diffuses tension, invites interaction and imagery needs to work across different languages and different age groups.
We opted for a strong impactful palette in the brand and logo design, a friendly legible font and accessible illustrations to distinguish the various subject matters. We like to think we met the challenge of helping create a voice for a child who has difficulty in making him or herself heard.
AXA Financial required communications to support the launch of a new Investment product. The Evolution product is aimed at High net worth individuals. Our task was to create the suite of branded communications that elevated the product, was relevant to local intermediaries and incorporated a new AXA global style.
We developed a branded communications theme
A theme that used the strength of the seasons as a metaphor for growth, flexibility, adaptation and optimism. Central to this theme were images of forests with daylight and pathways as a metaphor for optimism and clarity.
Black and white images allowed us to create consistent tone from a diverse source of images. The style was translated across Product Guides, Application Forms, Fund Lists, Advertising and Newsletters.
Vero Solutions wanted their recruitment arm to be different and to look different. They wanted to reposition the company as the forerunner in the recruitment and placement of specialist, top-level achievers within the software and technology industry.
We were approached to develop a new name and brand identity that would ensure brand standout within the marketplace.
Working through our naming process and focused on achieving brand standout, we recommended ‘Gempool’, denoting the pool of hidden gems available to clients and the new company.
Our proposed proposition ‘Great People for Smart Clients’ reached out to all our target audiences. Gempool is going from strength to strength. Proof that if you want to succeed, better recruit the best.
To coincide with the launch of their new name – Kanchi, The Aisling Foundation approached us to create their new brand design and communications.
The new identity needed to differentiate the organization in saturated market looking for funding and establish the brand as a recognized global brand.
Having developed a strong brand design platform with inclusivity at its core, we created an identity that puts Kanchi at the heart of inclusion and acceptance.
To reinforce the organisations past we re-invigorated the story of Kanchi – the elephant Caroline Casey travelled across India on. The project was delivered within an 8 week lead time, including 156 page annual report and launch communications.
Voxpro had a story it wanted to share with the world. We had a vision of how to give substance to their ambition. To begin, we defined the essence of Voxpro as an innovative company that is Ireland’s leading provider of 24/7 technical customer management in business process outsourcing.
We identified an expanding company with a rapidly growing workforce, a company already operating in 12 languages servicing over 300 indigenous and global organisations. A company with brand vision. We were tasked with bringing this great Irish success story to life.
Crafting the brand vision
Collaboration with clients is central to the Voxpro ethos. Our key strategic decision was to create a brand vision and proposition – Your Vision, Our Focus – that brought this right to the fore of the communications capsule.
We then created a new brand image – fresh, dynamic and future facing – that would enable Voxpro to rise above the other players in their market and instil an enhanced sense of confidence in both clients and workforce alike.
Today, we support Voxpro as the dominant business process outsourcing player in Ireland counting many blue chip companies in its client portfolio. Voxpro is going places – and it all started with a clear vision…