Stretching a tech brand into the future
Tensure is a modern tech consultancy specializing in cloud infrastructure. In a crowded space, it can be hard to distinguish one potential partner from another. When deliverables aren’t a differentiator, building a brand around a distinct team and culture isn’t a stretch of the imagination.
Tensure’s name comes from an Old English word for tension. While they originally positioned themselves as the rigid tension needed to support a bridge, our research showed their clients are drawn to their ability to relieve tension.
Tensure’s culture of collaboration is distinct in a land of proprietary solutions and black box projects. Instead of a one-size-fits-all approach, Tensure flexes to meet the specific needs of their clients, giving them the support they need to stretch beyond their comfort zone and move their business forward.
Tech brands often present themselves as superheroes, leaning on dark, moody color palettes, overly assertive language, and sci-fi illustrations to imply their technical skills. Tensure takes a different approach. They’re open-handed with knowledge, viewing clients as partners instead of projects. The playful color palette and taffy-like swirls allow the Tensure brand to feel vibrant and approachable, just like their team.
But what’s an all-star team without a mascot? Meet Taffy, the friendly face that represents the different personalities at Tensure. Taffy is both an external brand ambassador and an internal cheerleader, joyfully stretching to become anything at any time.
Unlike most consultancies, which are possessive about their expertise, Tensure believes knowledge is meant to be shared. They’re generous with clients and budding talent alike so everyone can grow far into the future. Technology is complicated enough. Tensure is warm, friendly and collaborative—a good neighbor happy to lend a hand, framing challenges and opportunity in terms any human can understand. Their messaging follows suit, offering expertise without attitude.
While Tensure proves tech-forward can still be fun, the brand operates on a sliding scale of personality. Applications can be buttoned up for sales pitches and free-flowing for cultural assets, with each element of the visual and verbal identity systems capable of flexing to suit the situation. For Tensure’s internal team, we even developed vibrant custom emojis to use on Slack, giving employees a tactile way to interact with the brand every day.
With Tensure on your side, the cloud really is big enough for everyone.
“We were enamored by the process. Matchstic distilled every step down to a clean and lively process. We were never surprised by where we got to because they communicated well.”
— Doug Shannon, Co-Founder & CRO, Tensure
Thanks to:
Doug Shannon, Justin Billig, and everyone involved at Tensure for trusting us and collaborating so seamlessly.
Credits:
Designed and Illustrated by Cody Bass
Animations by Max Prince, Cody Bass
Design Direction by Brit Blankenship
Verbal Identity by Cameron Leberecht
Brand Strategy by Kirby Carol
Project Management by Lauren Hood