Wymore Branding.
Overview.
Beginning in November 2022, Marion Design Co. partnered with Josh Wymore to create a new brand identity for Wymore, formerly known as Wymore Consulting. By staying attentive to the company’s values and Josh’s goals for the future, we created an updated brand to propel the business into a new era of growth.
Background.
How can leaders of organizations experience transformation that in turn transforms their companies’ futures? Wymore set out to provide executives with an answer to that question. Wymore uses individual and group coaching, along with workshops and other resources, to push leaders beyond simple inspiration and into the more fruitful terrain of transformation.
At the time of our partnership, Josh Wymore had over ten years of leadership training experience. He had begun sharing his insights with a broader audience, and was preparing for the publication of his book Humbler Leadership in February 2023.
Josh Wymore wanted to expand his business to reach leaders across the globe, while establishing a more professional and elite company persona. Marion Design Co. signed on to help Wymore achieve those goals through a redesigned logo, new set of brand standards and guidelines, and refreshed website.
Objectives.
elevation
One of the project’s key goals was to elevate the legitimacy and professionalism of the brand, while increasing public awareness.
mission
The updated mark and visual identity had to represent Wymore’s purpose as the company’s audience expands.
growth
The new brand needed to set the business up for forward movement and growth, while making room for others to join in this line of work.
Process.
Our team began by understanding Josh Wymore’s vision for the future of his company, as well as the goals he hoped to achieve through rebranding. We conducted a brand audit and identified Wymore’s central purpose: to help leaders and organizations be more effective by empowering them to understand their purpose and then align their decisions and resources to intentionally pursue that purpose. We learned how Josh Wymore wanted his business to be perceived — as professional, modern, and innovative.
We began work on a logo that could anchor the brand, conveying its persona and mission to a wider audience. Many of our early designs for the mark featured bridges, keys, and question marks, all imagery that reflects Wymore’s purpose in different ways. We also experimented with incorporating the letter “W” into the design, and with adding weight to the “more” in “Wymore.” After refining our ideas to twelve versions of the logo, we collaborated with the client to combine two ideas and create the final mark.
Results.
The chosen logo combines the image of a suspension bridge and a typographic emphasis on the “more” in “Wymore.” Together, these elements embody Wymore’s process of helping leaders bridge the gap between inspiration and transformation and become more than they were before.
The new mark contains layers of meaning. The top of the bridge forms the letter “W,” helping to increase brand recognition when the mark is used apart from the company’s name. The bridge’s vertical lines reflect the incremental steps of application which are essential to Wymore’s process. The icon also subtly takes the form of a crown, echoing the pride found in pursuing one’s potential.
The word “Wymore” uses sleek, professional letterforms to give the brand the modern, elite look Josh Wymore desired. Placing “more” in extrabold connects to the brand’s tagline and reinforces Wymore’s mission. Meanwhile, the brand’s color palette combines the maturity and professionalism of muted tones with the energy and determination of the core orange. The typography chosen to accompany the brand reflects similar values, while both the primary and secondary typefaces, Raleway and Open Sans, offer ease of access as they are both licensed under the Open Font License.
Our team included additional design elements in the new brand guidelines to give Wymore flexibility and room for expanding their creative vision. Finally, we applied the new brand guidelines to Wymore’s website, refreshing the company’s online presence to match the new brand identity.
Our work with Wymore demonstrates the level of thoughtfulness and precision that goes into all our projects. For more examples of how rebranding can reshape the trajectory of an organization, read the case studies about our work for Marion Health and Ministry Incubators.
