A 30 year old print shop preparing its brand for future growth
The Project
Rebuild the brand from the bottom up
Copysource is a print shop located in Bellingham, Washington. They are locally known as one of the fastest and had a relationship with nearly anyone in town due to being in the same place for 30 years. I had been working at Copysource for about 3 years before they asked me to redesign their brand.
Problem
Copysource hadn't updated their brand for nearly 20 years. The brand needed to mature past its 90's print shop aesthetic. The residents of Bellingham already came to Copysource for the personal experience, but there was no real brand identity that supported Copysource itself. Copysource needed consistency in its visual language across print and digital services, aswell as with local and remote customers. They would also need a graphic language that is easy to reproduce by someone unfamiliar with design programs. The company is small, so anyone could be editing or creating a branded file at any time.
Project Goals
– Create a simple, but flexible design system that could evolve with Copysource
– Rebuild the website on a modern platform
– Reorganize and Redesign the store space
Original Branding
Copysource's brand didn't really exist in a traditional sense. Copysource was clutter, it had a lot of ideas and a lot of visuals. Every color was up for grabs, every picture was usable, and every bit of space was filled with some form of information. There was so much noise, that it all disapeared into the background. Copysource worked because of people that worked their and their relationship with the community. They ran a good business, but not a good brand. This rebrand was meant to give them room to play with color, play with photos, and still look as professional and talented as the company was.
This is the primary and only logo for Copysource. Copysource is typeset in Montserrat bold and colored in the branding red. The slogan is placed underneath in Aktiv Grotesk Extended Regular and colored black.
The logo can exist with or without the slogan.
Diverse Color Pallete
The colors were chosen to attract customers and advertise our printing quality.
Salish Sea Blue and Skagit Tulip Red are the primary branding colors.
Bellingham Bay Blue, Boulevar Green, Spring Sun Yellow, and Late Sunset Orange are the secondary branding colors.
Primary Pattern
This pattern showcases our colors, our playfulness, and our professionalism.
It can be used across social media icons, business card backs, signage, and more.
Product Imagery
Hi
Icons
Icons are used as an alternative to product photos. You can use an icon if you can't find a photo for a product that reaches Copysource's professional standards.
Stock Imagery
Bye
Copysource has historically used a lot of stock photography. This branding takes a step back from the heavy photo use, but it leaves room for it in Customer Folders and similar uses.
Customer Folders are one of the few touch points Copysource has outside of the store. These folders are meant to be memorable, colorful, and eye catching to bring customers back to the store after a purchase.
Banners & Posters
Signage is kept simple to communicate quickly to our customers. The rebrand wants to reduce the amount of large flashy signs.
The old copysource website was built in Adobe Muse, which lost support in 2018. The site was interlocked with an outdated backend and Muse didn't allow for the quick website updates the company needed. The new site is built out on Squarespace to ease site changes made by any employees. The site is primarily used for customers to place orders, contact Copysource, or hear about sales.
