CB&A Rebranding

PROJECT TYPE
Rebranding

CLIENT:
CB&A

INDUSTRY:
Education Agency

C. Blohm & Associates, Inc. (CB&A)—or, as their friends call them, CB&A, is one of the top education marketing agencies in the United States. They're known as the approachable experts in their space, and they've become the go-to in terms of what's new and next in education and edtech marketing over the past three decades.

So, when they said they wanted to update their branding, with a specific concentration on social media elements, print and digital collateral, and environmental graphics for their office, I jumped at the opportunity to push the brand forward. However, there needed to be a balance—while it was a chance to implement some variations, it was important that the refresh not stray too far from the current branding that's front and center to the website and CB&A's other elements.

To create this balance, one idea I had was to expand—and then segment—the color palette. The expanded color palette allows CB&A some much-needed variation in tone, and also provides additional colors to create rays or accents in coordinating colors.

In segmenting the colors, they instantly take on more meaning. Each mini color palette represents an area of CB&A's communication focus, with the color psychology to match. The pink and red hues are representative of the partnership and action in the agency's client-focused communication, such as case studies and partner events. The bright yellows and oranges speak for the joy and culture of CB&A's internal-focused communication: employee and company culture-specific stories and hiring advertisements. And shades of blue convey CB&A's knowledge and authority on thought leadership communications like trend reports and news pieces.

It's a good reminder that a refresh can be exactly that—a retooling. A modernization. A new way of looking at the elements you already have, and adding weaving some subtleties in to make your brand even stronger.