Chalkbox Creative
An updated brand identity, website, and supporting materials for a creative agency that specializes in revitalizing brands.
My Role:
Lead Designer responsible for brand development,
UI / UX.
Company:
Chalkbox Creative
Key Responsibilities:
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Brand identity development
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Audience research
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User journey and wireframe development
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Prototype creation and testing
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Stakeholder presentations and collaboration facilitation
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Design system documentation
The challenge
Chalkbox Creative is a creative agency in Seattle that has been in operation for almost 17 years. From local start-ups to Fortune 100 eCommerce giants, Chalkbox has built expertise collaborating with diverse clients on a wide array of projects. As an agency that specializes in rebranding companies experiencing growth or a change of direction, it became time for Chalkbox to address their own brand after 15 years of use. The new brand needed to highlight Chalkbox's focus on collaboration with clients, feel appropriate for a creative agency, and provide flexibility in use.
Sketch, sketch, sketch!
Designing for yourself, or even for an agency you work for can be challenging. Because of this, sketching exhaustively was particularly important. I focused on the concepts of partnership, collaboration, and simplicity. The sketches ranged from complex to simple, and at the end of the process my recommendation was simple and impactful.
Before and after.
Chalkbox's previous identity was well loved and used to this point in the agency's history. The next iteration of this brand needed to embody the direction Chalkbox was moving towards: Collaborative partnerships that result in the right identity for the right business, helping them move towards their ideal future state.
Joined C's, an icon for collaboration.
A key differentiator in Chalkbox's process is that the designers don't disappear into a box only to reappear with fully baked design solutions. They stay transparent, open about all concepts, and the client is an active collaborator from start to finish. This key differentiator is built into Chalkbox's brand in the form of two joined C's, Chalkbox and the client, partnering for a stronger design solution.
The right brand in print and digital.
Being composed of designers who work in print and the digital space, it is important that the Chalkbox identity look good wherever it appears. In addition to the identity and web redesign, Chalkbox's new identity also launched with physical networking pieces like business cards.
Let's design your future.
Chalkbox's website looks and works great on desktop and mobile, and is built to funnel their audience to Chalkbox's great work, and then to book an upcoming project. The design of the website is unconventional, and the right mix of novelty needed for an agency website, with solid functionality on whatever screen the digital experience is viewed from.
Key take-away and lessons learned.
There is no getting around the fact that designing for yourself, or for the agency you work for can be challenging. It is easy to fall into the trap of subverting your own process because you are in both the client and designer seat at the same time.
It took active effort in my collaboration with the owner to shift focus away from subjective feedback based on personal preferences, and towards what the audience and business needed. This focus ended up strengthening and further defining our internal creative process which had a positive cascading effect on future projects. As a result, Chalkbox has a brand identity that is more aligned with how Chalkbox positions itself in the market, their target niche, and their plans for future growth.