By Mary Olson, Brand Intelligence

We thrive in an age of rapid digital transformation.

Strategic branding and website UI experiences support exceptional business innovators like Bob Bonomo, who is trailblazing the future for small and midsize businesses (SMBs). NextSTOP Consulting is the first market-maker to help SMBs pivot to the future.

Bonomo, a thought leader and the CEO of NextSTOP, is on a mission to maximize SMB opportunities that drive the digital transformation of their businesses.

Bob invited Brand Intelligence to assess and elevate his company’s brand, and to collaborate on developing his ground-breaking business model. We wanted his brand to emerge with the right combination of strategy, innovative design, and value, and worked closely with Bob to understand his business proposition and target market, clarify and develop his content, and design visual prototypes.

From day one, clarity guided our process. The brand strategy emerged from the company’s values, as well as from an in-depth understanding of its customers’ self-interest. We wanted clients to experience their own needs and aspirations within the NextSTOP brand and positioned the brand to clearly communicate its value proposition. At the same time, strategic planning and online business modeling were essential in establishing the brand direction. 

Site Map – The Design Imperative

Our planning stage included the sitemap, a work product created without design embellishment to clearly establish the site architecture.

Next, we clarified the creative direction, initiated the branding, and strategized the content.  

The Logo Design

Logos are central to a company’s brand. They provide customers with a visually familiar name and a meaningful look and feel, the later specified through font, color, shape, scale, and imagery.

In the case of NextSTOP Consulting we first considered how to distinguish its three words.  “Next” speaks to the forward-looking nature of Bob’s business. “STOP,” because it is an acronym representing the heart of the business model, is given upper upper-case treatment: Strategy, Technology, Operations, and Process Optimization. “Consulting,” identifies the business type.

The next question we considered was whether to visually combine Next and STOP in the business name. Because of the number of different elements in the logo we recommended combining the two words and presenting them as a unified and simplified whole.

A logo glyph is not always necessary for a company brand, but for NextSTOP we felt such a visual would add visual interest and meaning. The glyph we developed can be understood in two ways — as a cube, or as three arrows pointing outward. The cube represents either the client’s business or the NextSTOP product, while the arrows represent the expansive message of the business proposition. The three gradient blues in the glyph suggest the digital transformation that is integral to Bob’s services — blue for digital, the three shades of blue for transformation. 

The Home Page Design

A website home page is crucial for any brand experience. Through a clear, smart, and engaging combination of typography, visuals, color, and composition it affirms the value of the company and its value proposition. Within moments of viewing a website home page a user will decide to accept the premise of the brand or not.

A home page banner image plays a critical role in this experience, providing a sensory and emotional engagement that visualizes the brand story. In the case of the NextSTOP website the blue color palate echoes the logo we had already developed and anchors the company in a contemporary and even future-looking digital environment. The elegant, sweeping lines morph from blue into magenta, introducing life and energy and, in “pivoting to the future,” communicating the promise of the brand. The connected elements at the right represent the future of SMBs.

Scrolling further down the home page reveals a visual adaptation of the banner image, though now also incorporating the logo glyph.

A Collaborative Process

We are grateful to Bob for his commitment to and faith in the collaborative working process. Such trust encourages and elevates the process of developing a strong brand identity and delivering the right combination of innovation, design, and value. The result for NextSTOP is a unique brand identity and a clear, strong, and engaging website that anchors the voice of the brand.

Our marketing and promotion model will quickly extend Bob’s branding to the SMB target market, offering forward-thinking business owners a chance to pivot their businesses confidently into the future.

The NextSTOP website can be seen at NextSTOPconsulting.com.

Contact

Mary Olson | Brand Intelligence
Founder & Brand Architect
Contact:  maryolson@maryolson.biz
LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/maryolsonbiz/

Ref:  Designing Brand Identity, Fourth Edition. Alina Wheeler. 
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