I.

Challenge

Back in 2020, we created a unique brand identity for our new content marketing studio, studioID. At the time, our strategy was to visually separate the studioID brand from the Industry Dive parent brand; we wanted studioID to look and feel more like a content marketing agency than a news publisher. We gave studioID its own logo, typography and color palette.

After working with the studioID brand identity for a year, we realized that we had made the brand assets too distinct. It was hard to tell that studioID was part of Industry Dive. The visual differences also made our design projects more challenging, because we were working with multiple color palettes; it wasn’t always clear which one we should use. This issue affected other teams; when Dive sales reps made client pitch decks, they weren’t sure which branding to apply to which pages.

To resolve these problems, we decided to pivot from our original strategy of distinctiveness and emphasize the connection between the brands; we decided to unify them.

II.

Goal

Align studioID and Industry Dive’s visual identities to make it clear that studioID is part of Industry Dive and simplify our brand design processes.

III.

Process

Our Industry Dive and studioID brand unification process began with a focus on color. We abandoned the unique studioID palette and chose to solely rely on the colors of Industry Dive, the parent brand. Industry Dive’s easily recognizable red and indigo palette had built up strong brand equity over the years. To better match the specific hue of Dive Indigo, we slightly updated the tone of our red and grays. Within just a few weeks, we completely consolidated our corporate, editorial and content marketing brands under a single color palette.

The next challenge was typography. While our pub site typefaces were chosen for their legibility and classic editorial look, we wanted studioID’s typography to feel more artistic. We searched for typefaces that had both a creative personality and high legibility. We tested several options in mockups of our publication websites, white papers and social media posts, ultimately finding a winner in Tiempos.

IV.

Results

Once the proposal was approved by the stakeholders, we set the brand updates into motion. We updated the studioID website, social media account headers, ads and slide decks. The Marketing and Sales teams welcomed the simplified approach. Because we no longer had to juggle different visual identities, it became much easier to apply the branding and communicate with our audience. By the end of the project, Dive designers, marketers and sales reps all saved time when creating branded collateral, and the overall Dive brand was more cohesive, refined and memorable.