Groundbreakers Landscape & Design (case study)
Overview
When Groundbreakers Landscape & Design LLC formed, they scrambled to have business cards printed, yard signs made and a website published quickly, without having a brand. They had only just registered their LLC name with the state.
Role:
Design Director
Tools:
Creative Suite
Problem:
When Groundbreakers approached Curious 7, they didn't quite know who they were, they just knew who they weren't.
Solution:
Discover what make Groundbreakers different than the other landscape design businesses in the region and focus on that.
Duration:
Months
Here is what Groundbreakers began their business using, out of necessity:
Discovery
After some interviewing and deep introspection with the two owners, they started realizing what they wanted to say to people. They knew they wanted to showcase their high-end stonework. They weren’t another truck driving around looking to cut your grass and pull your weeds, and they didn’t want green or a tree as part of their identity. Groundbreakers didn’t want to work with commercial spaces. The landscape architect wanted to focus on residential spaces, giving homeowners the yards and gardens of their dreams–the places they could escape to without needing to leave home. A sanctuary at their home address. They wanted the customer to know they’d be getting a professionally and individually designed space, and not a cookie-cutter solution.
Ideation
One challenge would be getting such a long name encapsulated in a mark. Another would be showcasing their specialty while letting people know they were a full-fledged landscape architecture company, not stone masons. It was on to my one of my favorite parts of the brand development process: sketching.
Design
Primary Logo
Secondary Logo
Other Deliverables and Iterations
Business card concepts
Final Business Cards
Templated invoice for owners’ ease-of-use
The owner said having a site that was photography-heavy was key in landing new jobs when visiting a new potential client. Being able to quickly scroll through large images to communicate their capabilities did more legwork than trying to explain it to someone who may not understand industry language.
Mobile
Doorhangs
Truck wrap, back and sides
Additional items not pictured included crew hoodies, t-shirts, hats, Facebook ads, and newspaper ads, in addition to regular website updates.
Reflection/Results
After hearing from the landscape architect and owner of Groundbreakers a few months after their new branding, she said business was picking up. Specifically, when they would pin a business card to a supplier community board, it stood out because it was vertical, had texture and color, and had rounded edges. Most of the other cards pinned to those types of community boards were horizontal, had square edges and were white, like Groundbreakers’ old card, often printed using an office supply store like Staples. Generic, a dime a dozen.
They’ve been steadily booked for two decades. They’ve added trucks. They stopped renting equipment and purchased their own. In a world where small businesses come and go, theirs is a success story in hustle, hard work, and standing out.