CHOA, as it's referred to, was challenged to expand the reach of their brand while preserving precious and emotional brand equity. The goal was to modernize the brand, making it more cohesive, strategically-focused, and appealing to teens and their parents. The goal was to enhance Children's brand equity in order to support future recruiting and a growing national reputation.

Process & Solution

Through qualitative and quantitative research, it was concluded that the historical "Hope & Will" characters held strong brand equity & awareness throughout Georgia. To revolutionize the identity would not be wise. With this in mind, an evolutionary rebrand approach was elected in order to both maintain and grow the current brand equity.

The new Hope & Will are a simplified and modernized version of the lovable children. Subtle changes to the design include oval eyes, bigger smiles, clothing more suited to older children and a taller, a more streamlined appearance, and Hope’s hairstyle—she is now wearing a ponytail. They are constructed with symmetry, spacing, and line width all considered. The logotype was also updated to feel "kid-focused" yet still remain professional and credible. A "Naming Decision Tree" was also developed to guide the organization along for a more cohesive and intuitive naming architecture for future expansion and existing locations.

We also developed a comprehensive brand style guide (over 100 pages) to drive all stakeholders toward a coherent yet flexible brand identity system. Throughout the new brand platform, Hope & Will are signature features of a brand with more personality, more consistency, and more clarity while still retaining critical brand recognition.

Process- Brand Analogs & Mood Board

Process- Prototype Board

Process- Prototype Board

Process- Prototype Board

Process- Brand Color Palette Prototype

Process- Brand Style Guide Mapping

Process- Brand Style Guide Mapping

Process- Brand Style Guide Mapping

Brand Mark – Primary Lock-Up

"Hope & Will" Mark Evolution & Grid

Brand Style Guide Spread

Brand Style Guide Spread

Brand Style Guide Spreads

Brand Style Guide Applications

Brand Style Guide Swag Applications

Brand Style Guide Signage Applications

Who are you and what do you do?

Hi, I'm Christina Yoo and I'm a designer.
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Where are you from?

Born and raised in Jacksonville, Florida.
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What led you into your role?

All my childhood memories of school are only of the art projects we did. I remember painting a paper mâché fish with orange, purple and white stripes in kindergarten. I always loved colors, lines, patterns.

In college, I was too afraid to apply to the Graphic Design program. Instead I studied to be a physical therapist. It would be a solid job with good pay. But when you're an artist – you can't escape it. Eventually, I decided to take a leap of faith and pursue what I always wanted to do. I've been grateful ever since.

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First month impressions?

As a firm, Matchstic is flexible, organic, inspiring, fun. No two days are the same here.As a team, the Matchstic crew are true collaborators. And someone makes me laugh out loud at least once a day.

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What do you bring to the table that’s unique?

Korean food recipes.

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What are you currently reading or watching?

Linchpin – Seth Godin, Dreaming with God – Bill Johnson

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What inspires you?

My coworkers, children's art and taking breaks to do non-design related things.

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Something you are obsessed with at the moment.

Instagram.
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Where is your favorite meal in Atlanta?

I can narrow it down to three: Singha Thai, Star Provisions and Jang Soo Jang (Korean food in Duluth).
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Drink of choice?

Arizona Green Tea

animated gif demonstration to reiterate Christina's power in the kitchen y'all

Part of my job at Matchstic is to handle incoming requests from companies interested in working with us.  There are different ways to go about this process, some that work well and some that can be time consuming and frustrating.  The classic way to approach a branding company is through sending out a mass RFP (request for proposal).  This is a process that is very tiring and cumbersome for all parties involved and often leaves everyone exhausted and the excitement of starting the project has been lost.  Because of this, we do not involve ourselves in the traditional RFP process.

In my experience, a much more efficient and effective approach is to start with an RFI (request for interview) process.  Decide which type of firm you are looking to work with (local, national, small, large, multi-disciplinary, focused, etc) and go searching for them.  Make a short list of firms that you'd like to interview in order to understand how they tick and how they will approach solving your problem.

In that interview, focus on the following items:

• Understand their philosophies and methodology.  This is the most under estimated aspect early on, but at the core of how they will work.
• What is their process? Does that seem to sit well with how to solve your problem?
• How do they structure a project team?  You want to know who they will be working with and who does the actual work.
• What are typical price ranges and timelines that they are comfortable working with?  You want to make sure those will fit with your needs.
• Do you like them?  You are about to engage in a long process, so you need to feel out how well you will work together.

After you have interviewed several firms, you have most of what you need from what you would have received in the RFP process and more.  Then you can begin the process of selecting 2-3 companies to dig deeper into understanding the project and they can give you a quote with timelines, etc.

It is tempting to jump to looking at deliverables and pricing, but you must first dig into a company's DNA to see if they are a match there first.

I came across the amusing "Hipster Branding" tumblr blog last week. In the blog, Swiss designer Dave Spengeler "holds up a mirror to the artsy community" by redesigning some well known logos with trendy aesthetics. This witty little blog idea made me wrestle with my own thoughts on the line of timeless design principles v. trendy aesthetics.

In school I was taught that "eye candy" (or using trendy tricks) was never a good thing, unless it had a conceptual backbone. This still holds true. But most brands do need a relevant and innovative identity system to cut through market clutter, establish brand message, and set the right perceptions. Almost everyone wants to look good. I've never had a client that sad the opposite. So how do you find a balance?

In my opinion, brands need to define the DNA first- void of skin-level trends. Then once the brand knows who it really is then it can move into visuals and the process of trying to determine which appropriate aesthetics. Perhaps it needs some "Hipster Branding", because it's a Hipster brand. Perhaps it needs some "Credible Experts Branding" because credible & expertise is the value proposition for the business. Perhaps it needs some "Grungy Skateboard Branding" because it's a grungy skateboard shop. It all depends on the strategy. Trends aren't necessarily bad. Knowing what is happening in the design market place (or current trends) can actually be a great source of inspiration for designers to innovate on what other people are doing well. Trends become dangerous when there is no defined DNA backbone and it's just visuals for visuals sake.

Trendy execution isn't the issue. The issue falls on designers and clients prematurely jumping to the visual stage and not spending enough time defining the DNA of the brand. There will always be a space where brands and trends coexist.

Some brand identity systems recently designed that do this really well are:

AOL
Current TV
Comedy Central
Men's Journal
Girls Scout's

Today's blog is a guest post from our recent hire, Jonathan Lawrence…

In the beginning of January, I moved from my hometown of Jacksonville, Florida, to work as a designer here at Matchstic, in Atlanta, Georgia. Being in a new situation, with a new workflow, and in a new city, can be challenging – but new challenges bring new lessons learned. Here are a few things I've learned over the past couple months.

Remember Who You Are.
One of the most challenging things after I started, was figuring out where I fit in on this super-talented team… What is my role? How can I contribute?

Remember, you're not here because you're like everyone else, you're here because you're you.

Just Play.
When you're part of a team, you can't worry about what part you play, just play. The best idea wins, no matter where it comes from. And it's your job, as a member of that team, to help execute that idea to the best of your abilities.

Mean What You Make.
I feel so fortunate to have landed in a place, like Matchstic, that values creativity, working purposefully, and making things that make a difference. Explore. Push. Experiment. It is only through these things that we can challenge ourselves to make work that is more creative and tests the boundaries.

We All Struggle.
As we work and wrestle with things, it's easy to feel alone, nervous, or in doubt. But you feel this way because you care. You want things to be great. And they will be. Do you best, keep working and keep pushing. Eventually things will click.

Stay Objective.
Know you've done your best and what was right for the client and your team. In the end, no matter what you do, someone will like it, someone will hate it, and someone will think they can improve on it. Everything can always be improved. Always.

That's right, Matchstic's looking for TWO count ‘em TWO talented young individuals to join our team this spring. 

Are you a gifted young designer looking to get a little game-time experience? This is for you. You'll be clicking, dragging, learning, growing and if nothing else, walking away a better designer with a better portfolio.

Are you an aspiring project manager? You'll work closely with the whole Matchstic team as you gain experience in traffic management, developing project milestones and timelines, and client management.

If you think you got what it takes send us your resume, work samples (PDF/website) and we'll save you a seat for the next three months.

Internship details:

Designer

Submission Deadline: April 1st
Internship Duration: April 30th – July 27th
Contact: john@matchstic.com

Project Manager

Submission Deadline: April 1st
Internship Duration: April 30th – July 27th
Contact: becky@matchstic.com

]]> http://matchstic.com/blog/2012/03/spring-internships/feed/ 2 http://matchstic.com/blog/2012/03/coherence-vs-repetition/ http://matchstic.com/blog/2012/03/coherence-vs-repetition/#comments Tue, 06 Mar 2012 10:00:48 +0000 Blake Howard http://matchstic.com/blog/?p=12766

One common place in the world of brand is having a monstrous document called "Brand Standards". It is the rules and regulations for a brand's visual identity.

Unfortunately, Simply slapping your logo on everything in the same spot (according to those rigorous standards) just won't work anymore. Consumers want more depth than that. They want captivating stories, new experiences, and variety yet still "on brand". I read this fascinating article this week on Fast Company called "Brands as Patterns". The author illustrates the power of a brand being unified around several small ideas that manifest themselves differently in design applications yet still feel coherent. It goes on to say, "Consistency is still at the heart of a brand's value, but in this fluid and agile world, repetition cannot be the only rule."

Yes, brands need to have consistency & standards (for quality control), but one should question the purpose of those standards. Are they to oppress future designers with rigorous rules or to set the "pattern" in which a consumer should experience the brand? A great set standards shouldn't micromanage but define the context in which the brand's identity should be brought to life. Designing a visual language over setting rules gives a brand a more desirable human feel. Standards should define the visual playground but not exactly what the kids should wear every time they play.

A great analogy for that, as mentioned in the article above, is the English alphabet. It contains only 26 defined characters yet the Oxford English Dictionary contains 171,476 words. It is one of the most flexible yet coherent systems ever created.

A brand's identity shouldn't be restrained to strict rules, yet it shouldn't free to roam wherever it wants. The goal is coherence rather than repetition.

This line of thinking reminds me of our awesome (I'm biased) new print collateral with a flexible system of stamps intended to be used in a variety of ways when applied.

]]> http://matchstic.com/blog/2012/03/coherence-vs-repetition/feed/ 1 http://matchstic.com/blog/2012/02/a-common-thread/ http://matchstic.com/blog/2012/02/a-common-thread/#comments Tue, 28 Feb 2012 10:00:18 +0000 Blake Howard http://matchstic.com/blog/?p=12720

The essence of all design should be humanist. The end user in mind. Researching and understanding their wants, needs, and hopes. This is where design should start, but great design, and great designers, go beyond the end user and also consider the relational capacity with their collaborators (partners, vendors, clients, etc.) in a given design task. The relationship of trust is paramount for work of any decency. Design is also about spacial relationships- hierarchy, juxtaposition, composition, contrast, etc. which all fundamentally deal with the visual relationship between one object to another.

Branding is similar. Great brands establish deep meaningful relationships with their customers. Business is the same. It all comes down to relationships. They matter more than action items, more than sales goals, more than performance, and more than deadlines.

Design, Branding, or Business all have one need in common: great relationships. The more they thrive the more a business thrives. I so appreciate our team of talented people. No matter where each of our paths may lead I hope we will all have this season of rich collaborative fellowship to treasure.

I hope you take some time right now and consider & appreciate the relationships you have around you today.

]]> http://matchstic.com/blog/2012/02/a-common-thread/feed/ 0 http://matchstic.com/blog/2012/02/tis-thy-name/ http://matchstic.com/blog/2012/02/tis-thy-name/#comments Tue, 21 Feb 2012 10:00:37 +0000 Blake Howard http://matchstic.com/blog/?p=12597

Shakespeare really understood something about names and their delicate value. He highlights here in Othello the power of a good name and the tragedy of it's loss. Brand's are not much different. A brand's name is the verbal moniker for it's reputation, and a good one is hard to come about and to protect. It only comes through a company consistently delivering on it's promise to customers. Do that, and the company will have a "jewel of their soul" that enriches forever. Do it not, and they shall be "poor indeed".

Look at companies like Apple, Zappos, Southwest, or Chick-fil-A. There is nothing magical about the ideation, construction, or verbal cadence with these literal words. Yes, they are great names, but I would suggest that years and years of consistently delivering remarkable experiences with remarkable products for their customers has resulted in that delightful feeling in our gut we all have about those brands. That's what brands need. Not new logos or websites (which do help with the right strategy). Comcast isn't fooling anyone with their new name Xfinity (Blah!). They will have the same dreadful service as always. Ally bank on the other hand (formerly GMAC) got it right. With a horrible reputation they shifted their perspective to their customers and committed to fixing the problem then reflected this change with it's new name "Ally".

Brands that thrive are brands that consistently & coherently deliver on their promise and protect their good name. Even the good book knew this truth…

"A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches." -Proverbs 22:1

]]> http://matchstic.com/blog/2012/02/tis-thy-name/feed/ 4 http://matchstic.com/blog/2012/02/the-super-power-of-video/ http://matchstic.com/blog/2012/02/the-super-power-of-video/#comments Tue, 07 Feb 2012 10:00:10 +0000 Blake Howard http://matchstic.com/blog/?p=12480
The Chrysler commercial above particularly grabbed my attention. You might dismiss it as cheesy but I think it is a powerful use of telling the rebounding Chrysler story. It makes me want to root for them, after all I am an American right? How could I not. Everyone loves a good underdog.

Recently I've seen the power of video storytelling first hand for the Atlanta chapter of Creative Mornings. Our video sponsor Ron Dawson of Dare Dreamer Media has generously produced some amazing pieces that have elevated the perception of our chapter to new heights. Creative Mornings is great, but not everyone in Atlanta knows that. Atlanta is great but not everyone in the international Creative Mornings communities (20 chapters world-wide) knows that. Through Ron's work they now know more of the story and our results have been fabulous. Our last event of 200 people "sold out" in less than 4 minutes and our videos have had a ton of national attention (with over 26K views).

Enjoy a few of his works:

Interview with founder of Creative Mornings Tina Roth Eisenberg (aka Swiss Miss).

Promo for the Atlanta Chapter

There's nothing new to the power of video. Commercials have been around since the dawn of time (atleast it seems like). What is new, however, is the accessibility to quality professional equipment or affordable professionals. The walls have been broken down and no longer should prevent any brand from leveraging such a powerful medium. That is why we launched Matchstic Stories. We couldn't always tell the full story of the value we present to clients through our case studies, so we wanted our clients to tell the full stories for us and they've been wonderfully successful.

Hopefully your brand has an interesting story to tell. If it does, find a way to capture it and leverage such a powerful storytelling platform.

PS- Be sure to make our February's Creative Mornings here in ATL with photographer Zack Arias:

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