Cantilever was founded in 2011. Since then, we have had numerous amazing and inspirational experiences. In 2013, we collaborated with American Express. In 2019, we reached $1 million in annual revenue. We also expanded to Europe by opening our Copenhagen office.
As a company, we are extremely proud of our growth over the past twelve years. Our team is highly experienced and has worked together over time, making Cantilever a more mature organization capable of tackling a wide variety of projects. We recognized the need to tell a new story and realized that our old image no longer fit us. It was time to write a new chapter.
“Design is the silent ambassador of your brand.” – Paul Rand
Branding & RE-Branding
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As Partner & Creative Director at Cantilever, I rebranded our company to celebrate our 10-year anniversary. Although our old brand was fine, we felt it was time for a change. I started fresh with new logo ideas and visual elements. Designers can be orderly, but the ideation process can be chaotic. After a few iterations, we chose the 'knot' symbol as the defining visual element.
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The symbol's shape is smooth and organic, conveying storytelling and emotion. This aligns with our Digital Hospitality ethos. To match the organic feel, we used a monospace typeface.
This font is commonly used in computer code, which is relevant to our work. My goal was to create a brand that balances functionality and creativity. To achieve this, I utilized vibrant colors, including violet, dark pink, and orange, completing the color palette. The visual elements were created to complement the brand's functional aspects.
To make the example website user-friendly, I added hand-drawn elements for a human touch. We're happy with the result. However, a brand's message is influenced by many factors, all of which are equally important. It's important to consider these factors during the initial phase, but the brand will naturally evolve over time.
As branding is one of our key offerings, I discuss it regularly with clients. Here are some key points from a designer's perspective, along with examples. Let's talk about it!
Writing New Stories
We don't only do branding work for our own company, but for our clients as well. Here are some highlights from recent years:
CoverSports
CoverSports hired us for a website redesign and new branding. Their old logo used skeuomorphism to show the word 'Cover' as a physical cover on 'Sports'. The distorted letters and color gradients made the logo look old and hard to read.
To ensure the success of the logo redesign, we focused on three key benchmarks:
1. Updated typography - We used a modern font similar to the slab serif on letterman jackets but with a contemporary twist. The word "Cover" is arched, creating the cover effect of the original logo.
2. Updated colors - We kept the red but used a more distinctive shade and replaced the primary blue with charcoal gray. This unique color palette works well across all marketing materials.
3. Created a unique logomark - The diamond-shaped logomark provides a distinctive design element associated with the brand and represents a cover on a field. It makes the logo legible at small sizes and scalable to billboard size while maintaining a professional appearance.
Humphrys
The Humphrys team asked us to redesign their site and their logo. Humphyrs has been in business since the 1950’s. The cotton dock cloth was their primary product that they sold at the time. Over the years they evolved their product line and now they sell fabric awnings under the Humphrys umbrella (pun intended?).
The old logo had a duck that symbolized durable fabric. In the new branding, they wanted to keep the duck but make it more elegant. We were asked to create a new polished logo. Our design is a silhouette of a mallard duck on water, representing resilience in different weather conditions.
We combined an elegant serif font with a thin sans-serif and the new logo mark to create a brand treatment that represents the elevated luxury of Humphrys awnings. The goal was to convey affordable luxury and create a brand image that suggests a beautiful product that lasts for years.
Why Branding?
Branding is all about storytelling. Its purpose is to shape those stories into something meaningful and truthful that people can identify with. If done well, branding can make a company interesting to people. They want to know what's next, and they're interested in a company's distinct promise and how it delivers on it.