This is an active, ongoing branding project. Sunderman Farm Management is a 50-year old, family-owned company in northwest Iowa. Like most growing companies, decisions were made along the way, and items were printed as needed, without giving much thought to a "brand" — resulting in a mismatched identity with no consistency. When the second generation owner took the reigns a few years ago, he began the effort to replace or update all existing Sunderman pieces, and incorporate a new, consistent image throughout.
I started with the logo, and asked what type of personality they wanted it to have. The owner started with their customers. Before any design work began, Sunderman sent a survey to all of their past and present clients, asking for feedback. The result was a pile of wonderful, glowing testimonials. It was clear that Sunderman is proud of their rural roots and the personal, caring relationships they have with their clients. Although the goal was to create a professional-looking brand, it needed to feel friendly. Other direction included words like strong, agricultural, approachable, and timeless.
The logo is clean and easy to read. The icon is a cross between a leaf (representing growth) and a financial chart (also representing growth) — illustrating the analytical side of farm management. The letterhead, business cards, and envelopes are classic and bright white, because so much correspondence is done with legal offices. (although we did sneak in a cool photo of soil on the back of the business cards) Typefaces are easy to read because most of their clients are older. Colors are bold, solid, and earthy. Photography is bright, warm, and growth-focused. Each piece functions on its own, but creates a colorful, visually layered system when all together.
Several collateral pieces are in development. This year we will print a folder to house informational packages for potential clients. The brochure shown above will be included in that package. Farm management is a unique and complicated industry, and sometimes hard to understand. The first question that Sunderman gets from nearly every potential client is, "What exactly is it that you do?" The frequency of that question caused the owners to type a 10-page document outlining all the services they provide. Rather than handing out that daunting 10-page document, we designed this half-page sized reference booklet. It's small size prevents any overwhelmed feelings, provides information in an easy-to-read format, and includes testimonials.
I worked closely with their chosen sign company to help plan a monument sign for the newly renovated exterior of the Sunderman office building. It was installed late last year. From field signs to land auction promotion, the Sunderman brand has already stretched far.
