Smith Planning Group is a medium-sized, fully-integrated planning and design firm founded in Athens, Georgia, in 1989. The company wanted a brand refresh as they approached 30 years in business and the retirement of the company founder. With the namesake of the company leaving, the name was shortened to simply SPG. Design Holmen was given this challenge: rebrand and express the company today, what they do, and demonstrate that they are one of the only full service planning and engineering firms in Georgia that can handle all disciplines within land planning and engineering: civil engineering, master planning, landscape architecture, and urban design.
Design Holmen started with a rigorous discovery phase that included multiple interviews, an audit of the industry landscape, and all of the firm’s previous communication assets, as well as a look at the consistency of language use to describe different disciplines. At the end of discovery Design Holmen created a set of design principles to guide the brand identity. Out of this exercise the most insightful, yet simple quote was this:
“We are a land design firm. Architects draw buildings and draw blue prints that are the instructions for that building. We do everything else outside that building. We design and prepare all the documents that give instructions on how to design all of the site and infrastructure around that building.”
This notion immediately ignited an idea of how to design a simple but effective visual that spoke to the challenge at hand.
Everything outside the box.
The solution was clear. Design Holmen created a set of dynamic icons that expressed the outer boundaries of a square in multiple ways, evoking natural lines, collaboration, precision, innovation and more. The icons embrace the endless possibility of play and remind clients that SPG is one of the only firms in Georgia that can do everything (land survey, landscape architecture, land planning and engineering). This also allowed for a simple brand hierarchy where the studios within SPG had their own dedicated icon while the master brand could use them all.
The SPG wordmark is a customized version of the contemporary sans serif Circular. The s was customized to match the width of the p and g. The lowercase letters speak to the humble nature of the firm, and the facing letters p and g is a nod to collaboration. The corner of the g speaks the same design language as the icons with the perfect square of negative space cut out of the corner. The wordmark can be used on its own or in lock ups with the master brand: SPG Planners + Engineers or with the three studios: SPG Land Surveyors, SPG Urbanists + Landscape Architects, SPG Residential Studio. The wordmark can also be locked up with any of the icons.
A monochromatic colour palette compliments the brand and the vibrant work of the firm. A secondary and background palette was also developed for renderings, plans and proposals. This consisted of 14 colours in three different shades, giving the team a wide range of options for where they need colour most.
A detailed brand guide was also created so that the team would have a framework to reference for consistency and inspiration.
This concept, “Everything outside the box” was the clear winner even though three different concepts were presented. The concept created a flexible design system that allows the firm to continue growing and nurturing creativity in all of its variations, disciplines and possibility.
To our delight this brand refresh also won the RGD Brand refresh award in 2023. An international design competition, the RGD Branding Awards celebrate the best in branding and identity design.
Collaborators: Wes Ryals & Ed Lane (SPG), Adam Damiani (Animation)