Signatures

2019, Branding and visual design, Client work

I worked with Signatures to re-brand their distinct national shows under one central identity. After multiple phases of research, strategic planning, visual design, and web design the new identity was launched in February 2019.

Role / Creative director, art director, strategist, designer

Timeline / July 2018 to February 2019

Design process

Brief

The initial ask was for a marketing collateral refresh for two shows. From initial research it was established that a brand refresh and national, digital-first marketing strategy was required.

Research

Research was conducted with internal and external stakeholders using surveys and interviews to understand how the brand was perceived. External surveys were shared with both attendees and artisans which returned over 1600 unique responses to synthesize.

Strategy

Informed by the data collected in the initial research phase a strategy was developed to rebrand the company and go-to-market over a 1 year timeline. Visual design for the new branding was developed from the comprehensive strategy.

Digital re-launch

In February of 2019 the new branding was launched through a new website, social media push, and press release. The new site featured a dynamic artisan catalogue, resources for applicants, as well as a multiple entry points to view all shows (map, calendar, list).

Market research was used to develop a unique brand position to support a new brand identity. I designed the identity to be distinct and timeless while feeling handmade. The letters of the word mark unexpectedly narrow and widen, maintaining the feeling of the hand of the maker associated with the signature of an artisan. The tilted icon represents the physical spaces that Signatures creates through their shows, and the placement on the second ‘s’ emphasizes that the business is about the many artisans who connect with customers through those spaces.

I positioned the tagline lock-up as an overlay on the logo as a nod to printmaking and the tactile experience of graphic design. The tagline also functions as a stand-alone graphic where the maple leaf can be replaced with other icons to celebrate or advertise craft in digital campaigns.

I created distinct icons for each show based on remarkable architecture and associative imagery of the cities.

The design of the new website required another phase of research and a competitive analysis. In addition I made a stakeholder needs assessment for each page on the site to capture how multiple audiences would seek information. Once the information architecture was approved I created wireframes and mockups, followed by a build in Wordpress.

To create anticipation for the new branding we ran a 10 days of Signatures campaign at the end of 2018. I designed each image to simply convey a message using the letters as the main graphic element.

The first posters created for the brand’s relaunch