Project Overview
Melbourne based company StepFwdIT provide IT Managed Services to clients across Australia. Their offer ranges from dedicated in-house and off-site support to IT Consulting. Initially growing the business through referrals and the personality of the company's Founding Directors, StepFwdIT realised that to move the company to the next level – in what is an extremely crowded market place – they needed to strengthen the StepFwdIT brand. They commissioned FOR Studio to help them define their unique positioning and create an engaging visual identity and communications to match.
Project Commissioner
Project Creator
Team
Creative Strategy,
Amanda John
Design,
Justin Davies
Project Brief
The IT Managed Services marketplace is saturated and it can be difficult for consumers to find a truly reliable and trustworthy partner. StepFwdIT knew their clients appreciated them, not just for their IT skills, but also for their honest, friendly and proactive service. They also knew they had outgrown their existing brand identity, and they were embarrassed to point people to their website which was outdated, difficult to navigate and misrepresented what StepFwdIT are all about. Further while the Directors knew what they wanted StepFwd to be and what they wanted it to deliver, the rest of the team didn’t have a clear picture of what that was. StepFwdIT needed to clarify what they stood for and what they offered. And they needed to present that to the world in a much more engaging way.
Project Innovation/Need
A series of creative workshops were run to discover and distil the StepFwdIT brand story.
The brand positioning 'Beyond Technology’ was then developed, and this defined what StepFwdIT is all about – adding compelling, insight-driven value to the lives of their customers, with a smile.
The StepFwdIT Visual Identity was then refreshed with; a stronger simplified logo, a simplified and more modern tech feeling colour palette, a flexible illustration style that brings to life the services offered in a simple yet engaging way, and language that’s as friendly and accessible as the StepFwdIT team themselves.
Design Challenge
A key challenge was to ensure the brand identity was an evolution, and not a revolution. And to ensure it represented the true character of the business. Further, the brand identity was created on a limited budget and it needed to enable the creation of ongoing communications that were equally engaging with similar limited budgets.
Effectiveness
StepFwdIT have successfully defined their brand identity which is helping them achieve their goals and differentiate themselves from the competition. It’s also enabling them to collectively, as a business, live the brands values and personality, helping the whole team build upon StepFwdIT's existing positive reputation and attract new clients and the best talent.
With the new identity only recently being soft launched, we are awaiting detailed results on the new websites effectiveness. That being said, before the new Brand Identity was launched, StepFwdIT noted that the newly defined positioning had helped them win a new client. And existing client feedback has been overwhelmingly positive.
Graphic Design - Identity and Branding
This award celebrates creative and innovative design in the traditional or digital visual representation of ideas and messages. Consideration given to clarity of communication and the matching information style to audience.
More Details