When I work on a project for a client I have two internal goals; one, help them accomplish their marketing objective through design and two, create an ongoing relationship so that we can continue to work together on future projects. I was pleased when Foster Marketing called to start a new rebrand project. The work I did for Gulf South Risk Services sparked an interest in a rebrand for their sister company, Synergy Safety and Health. Synergy was in need of a major identity shift and modernization. This opportunity was exciting as it started as a chance recreate a mark to tell its story in a contemporary way and resulted in a branding award for my client.

The project started with a creative brief that provided a comprehensive background of the company and a communication objective with a clearly defined outcome for their audience. It addressed what Synergy’s competitive advantages are over their competitors and who they are. Within the oil industry, Synergy provides safety solutions that reduce the number of workplace incidents and improves the overall employee health and safety in a work environment by supplying a hands-on and personalized approach. It was also important to them to convey a core company belief, to be “always moving forward.”

Direction. Wonder why?

Creatively, this was a great starting point. After researching the competitors and the industry further, I better understood the landscape and what visual opportunities were available and what cliches should be avoided. I started the concept phase with a mind map to uncover ideas that pertained to their business, industry, and service beyond surface level ideas before moving onto sketching loose ideas. The result was 3 concepts that addressed different parts of their core message.

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When I can, I prefer to present identity projects with a name and rationale. This makes communication about the different directions easy and informative. A logo can be layered with meaning. Determining its intended initial message creates a healthy dialogue for review.

Direction A: Proactive

Synergy Safety and Health is proactive and forward-thinking for their clients’ wellness. They accomplished this through planning, effective communication and a commitment to health and safety. To illustrate this core value, four arrows rotate clockwise pointing toward a medical cross that lies within the negative space. Indicating that no matter what Synergy Safety and Health is thinking about wellness.

Direction B: Partnership

The commitment to wellness is an ongoing process and yields the best results with guidance, a partner or an ally. Synergy Safety and Health is that ally that facilitates and encourages a healthy lifestyle and workplace for its clients. This wordmark contains a unique Y letter form that tells the story of partnership. One-half of the Y starts apart from the other and intersects and intertwines in the middle to start the relationship and commitment to health and safety.

Direction C: Progress

Continuing to be healthy and safe is a process. A path is set, executed, reevaluated and adjusted as situations and circumstances change; and when followed, the path generates progress. Synergy Safety and Health helps create this progress for their clients. This mark utilizes two travel indicators from point-to-point gradually increasing in size. The path between each travel indicator creates an S for Synergy.

Revisions and Other Projects

The reaction to these marks was overwhelmingly positive. They selected the “Proactive” direction on the spot and we finished the project after some small revisions to type and color. Once approved we started developing the brand stationery, sales sheets, and pocket folder designs.