Rename & rebrand: Windsor Heritage makeover

A web-app for constructing custom streetlight poles, outreach arms and luminaires

WindsorUrban | Rename & rebrand

c1 infill panel: After

Curved tree guard. Vector greyscale drawing with graphical human element providing scale..

When commissioned to produce a business logo for the likes of Christchurch manufacturer of street lighting and urban furniture WindsorUrban I begin by questioning the the client, researching the market niche, drawing rough thumbnails in my sketchbook and playing with type on the computer. The purpose is to visually and strategically explore a diverse set of logo options. I understand that making a formally successful logo is good, but making a logo design that is formally successful and communicates as a base for all the client’s endeavours, marketing communication, intra-company culture, business-to-business is critical.

A strong logo and following visual system is one of a businesses key assets. In a competitive world the need for distinct corporate identity is central. As a designer, I take commonplace letterforms, shapes and images, and develop them into distinctive and meaningful brands. The breadth of opportunity and the possibilities for designer involvement in multiple media, combined with contributing to the marketing strategies of WindsorUrban’s business, make a business logo more than decoration; it is a component that contributes to a company’s success.

Project Overview

WindsorUrban is an established Christchurch manufacturer of street lighting and urban furniture. At the start of 2012 MagentaDot Brands took on the project of redesigning the firm’s outdated Web 1.0 style site. But as I researched the project and began sketching up draft logo ideas for presentation using the legacy name “Windsor Heritage” it became clear that the name had become outmoded and no longer reflected the firm’s product range and design innovation to such an extent that it was restraining the development of the optimal logo and brand image. My observations prompted a dialogue with the chief executive and the marketing manager, the upshot of which was the website redesign job developed into a complete company rename and rebrand project.

Clicking together a great web design!

Square image modules and page layouts based on a grid make for handsome organised web pages that are populated in a hurry.

A coherent, appealing website is a 24-hours-a-day selling machine to the domestic and export markets. WindsorUrban’s is a website that is as effective as their leading salesperson, as knowledgeable as their top buyer and as organised as their best office administrator. Their website captures online everything that is good about WindsorUrban’s business.

Prior to the redesign the legacy website was so poor that it was buried on page 12 of a Google search for “Urban Lighting, New Zealand”. Since my redesign the site ranks in the top three.

c1 infill panel: Before

But it was tough to build, digital assets and printed materials from a dozen sources were handed over. The urban furniture and street lighting products are of every shape, and size and being a street lighting manufacturer lots of very tall, very thin products. Thousands of product codes, photos, ways the poles and luminaires can be combined together, new LED models. Not to mention a complete new ranges of imported products sold under license.

On top of All that was the technical writing, vector illustration, hundreds of drawings, and photo composites.

To get the most out of amateur photos shot by sales staff masses of product images needed to be be clear cut, colour corrected, cropped and resized to a achieve suitable “optical” standard for use, consistently applied. What a sense of achievement to see it all integrate once my task of populating the website was complete!

c1 infill panel: After

That achievement rested on my design for the website. It is built of compact modules that snap together neatly into a handsome grid. Not only does it look great, when you’re populating the site the pages come together really fast. With clearly designated slots for every element on the product catalogue pages, what started out as an overwhelming nested structure of folders containing resources my efforts transformed into a coherent website of neatly packaged pages and intuitive navigation. Customers use it with ease.

The clever web-app, the brainchild of the marketing manager/client Steve Campbell, has come together to enable customers to mix and match streetlight luminaires and poles in any way they choose.

The grid structure organises the page information into uniform easy to read bites. The same grid structure that’s so easy to build is unusually easy for the user to navigate.

In addition to the accessible product catalogue the WindsorUrban site has a homepage that introduces the firm and helps the user navigate the site contents.

A renaming triumph that informs, modernises, accentuates and sells

The company was originally named ‘Windsor Heritage’. However it became clear as the research and development of the website progressed that the company had grown, product lines had expanded, market conditions had changed.

The heritage ‘Victorian / Edwardian’ style of the name and logo was a company brand image that no longer reflected who they were or what they did.

I raised this concern with the business owner and the marketing manager. It transpired that they and the sales team had similar reservations and agreed with me that a company rename and rebrand was essential for growth.

To proceed developing the web design without first squaring away the rename and rebrand was to put the cart before the horse. It followed that the best time to announce the rename and rebrand was to roll that into the launch of the redesigned website.

Curved tree guard. Vector greyscale drawing.

The change of company name was a natural course correction for the firm that required careful consideration and planning to be sure of achieving a successful outcome. If you think rebranding is a good strategy for your firm contact me here.

Credits

Web Design firm: MagentaDot Brands
Web coding, CMS customisation,
Web-app coding: Limelight Online – Christchurch