Dog Guard
An evolving brand identity for a national underground fence company. Dog Guard is all about keeping your dog safe, without boxing them in.
My Role:
Lead Designer responsible for brand development, and consulting on UI/UX with Dog Guard's Creative Director.
Company:
Chalkbox Creative
Key Responsibilities:
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Brand development
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Touch-point evolution
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Stakeholder presentations and collaboration facilitation
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Asset delivery
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Brand system management
The challenge
For more than 35 years, Dog Guard has given dogs the freedom to roam while providing owners with peace of mind. Dog Guard has a long relationship with Chalkbox, and had been working with them for over 4 years prior to my joining the team.
Dog Guard is a family owned business, and changes to their brand happened incrementally until around 2022, when the owner decided to address the brand identity. The company has dealers across the country, and we needed to be careful to step the brand and all touch-points forward in a way that wouldn't make Dog Guard suddenly feel alien to these dealers and the communities they serve.
We needed to make the brand feel contemporary, technology forward, all while not losing the accessibility, familiarity, and friendliness the Dog Guard brand is known for.
Sketching for the future, while not losing the past.
Dog Guard's brand identity centers around the iconic form of a Rough Collie, a breed of dog that Dog Guard's dealers and customers are both familiar with. I sketched an array of variations until finally honing in on something that myself and the Dog Guard team felt was right.
A familiar face, ready for the future.
Dog Guard's previous brand served them well for many years, but the old woodcut Rough Collie face wasn't holding up against competitors with newer identities, and isn't representative of where the company is heading. We collaborated to make something that maintains that familiar Collie friendliness found in the previous identity, feels up to date, accessible, and future forward.
Diverse needs for dealers across the country.
Dog Guard has dealers nation-wide, and each individual market has it's own needs for marketing and advertising. After the new identity was rolled out, we began updating Dog Guard's wide ranging printed materials while also responding to individual dealer requests. This includes everything from small ad campaigns, informational brochures, business papers, signage, and even vehicle wraps.
An updated feel for familiar faces at national trade shows.
An important component to Dog Guard's business model is it's ability to attract new dealers. One way Dog Guard approaches this through professional trade shows. We stepped forward Dog Guard's booth materials including 8ft wave banners, and a set of retractable meter-boards.
Keeping dogs safe never looked so good.
Dog Guard's dealers don't only sell underground fencing systems, they install them in people's yards. As part of the new brand roll-out we provided apparel guidelines to Dog Guard's dealers so they look professional, on-brand, while still remaining comfortable doing the hands-on work of installing Dog Guard's system.
A flexible brand set to grow with the company as needs evolve.
While my team at Chalkbox didn't directly design Dog Guard's digital touch-points, we consulted on the UI / UX to make sure the brand extended seamlessly into the digital setting. Our work with Dog Guard continues as we find more opportunities to extend Dog Guard's brand meaningfully. Whether on screen, or a coffee mug, Dog Guard's identity is ready to for the future.
Key take-away and lessons learned.
Evolving a brand that has had such a long lifespan in a family business is complex. There are emotional connections that go beyond what the company and it's clients need to see, and these can muddy the process. Fortunately, the team we collaborated with at Dog Guard was ready to set these aside, and do what it took to step the company into the future. The roll-out to Dog Guard's dealers went smoothly and as they all move into alignment with the parent brand, Dog Guard feels much more comfortably positioned against it's competitors.