Concentric Design

I am the VP of Revenue at Revelation Machinery. We buy and sell used manufacturing equipment.

We had never done any branding in the past and our messaging was often inconsistent. We have grown from less than ten employees 3 years ago, to 50 today so getting this right was very important. We wanted to give a consistent look and feel as well as one that differentiated us.

We reached out to a handful of different companies for this project that we found online. After speaking with a number of people from our team, we went with Concentric because we felt most comfortable with their abilities.

They started with a review of our company based on their online research. Then we went through interviews and activities with a few key members of our team to decide what makes us different. Finally they shared the updated messaging and designs and we provided feedback. They shared a complete brand guideline at the end.

We worked with 3 members of their team.

Because of the detailed brand guideline, we were able to use this to launch a new website with clear direction. Additionally able to use the messaging internally for training for our new hires to ensure we are on the same page.

We regularly communicated over email and they would present updates in person or over video. They regularly kept us up to date and would let us know any changes in schedule.

I think their ability to be flexible and really learn about our company stood out. Being in a pretty unique industry, there are often many things people in our industry do that don't always make sense for most other companies/industries. Rather than telling us it was wrong, they would understand our reasoning and be able to come up with a solution.

None that I can think of.

Co-owner & operations manager at Gadget Salvation, an online electronics buyback service.

Having been in business for close to 10 years, we found ourselves lacking a defined company image that would set us apart from the competition. Last year, we made a decision to bring someone on board to help us with our challenges, and after an extensive search, we are now happy to be working with the brilliant Concentric Design team.

Though we are an established site with a solid amount of traffic nationwide, we wanted to create a compelling and fun identity that would better communicate what we are about, appeal to younger audiences and stand out from mostly generic competitors.

After a number of interviews, both with local firms and overseas, we chose to work with Concentric because of their straightforward and direct approach, paired with the beautiful clean website & compelling portfolio.

The work began with market research. The guys analyzed our competition & value proposition, identified our target audience and built a data-driven strategy before diving into identity development and design portion of the project.

We work directly with both managing members Blair Hannah and Jeff Meador. They are also great and very helpful with bringing expertise on board through the duration of our engagement.

Concentric Design completely revamped our whole look, while enhancing the brand name, values and existing achievements. Not even a year ago, we came to Blair and Jeff with this very vague idea about how we wanted our business to look like, and they were able to articulate and visualize it for us better than we ever could.

Their communication is top-notch. Because we are local, we were able hold regular in-person meetings at the earlier stages of our project, but now that we are in the midst of the pandemic, the workflow is completely unaffected, as we continue to work via calls and emails, they address any questions we might have in a speedy manner and follow up with us regularly.

Their artistic vision and ability to incorporate feedback into a beautiful end product blew us away. Concentric brings in comprehensive expertise that extends far beyond branding in design, in one package. And above all, they are just great people to work with.

Honestly cannot think of anything.

I'm the Director of Marketing & Communications at Teach For America Chicago-Northwest Indiana. Teach For America is a national nonprofit, and Chicago-Northwest Indiana is one of its largest regions. I oversee all site content, social media, email communications, and media relations for our region.

Our 20th anniversary was approaching, and we wanted both a distinctive, branded campaign to celebrate this milestone, and a regional slogan and visual identity that would live beyond the anniversary.

Though Teach For America is a well-known national brand, the Chicago-Northwest Indiana region did not have a clear identity unto itself. We wanted to clearly communicate who we were as a regional community through a compelling slogan and visual identity, and to have various pieces of branded collateral that could be used for the events and communications we'd be hosting/sharing to celebrate our 20th anniversary.

I interviewed several different Chicago-based design firms. We chose Concentric because of their incredible, polished portfolio. In discussing our project, they were professional and really accommodating of all our different needs, and were very reasonably priced. They also had previous clients that felt relevant to our project, so we felt confident they'd do a great job.

After spending a lot of time reviewing our site and various internal comms docs, Concentric hosted a workshop with a group of staff members to help develop our brand architecture.

I worked with both team members, Blair and Jeff.

Concentric completely overhauled our regional brand in a way that felt very true to our existing identity and spirit, allowing us to communicate that clearly in all emails, social posts, site copy, and events.

Depending on where we were in the project, we'd have weekly or bi-weekly calls with Concentric. They shared a very clear project timeline that we could revisit if we were ever wondering about what was due when, and always got back to us within a day if we had any questions.

I was impressed by the amount of time they spent really getting to deeply understand our story and our stakeholders. It was obvious they had a real investment in our work.

Honestly, none come to mind. I highly recommend.

I’m the co-founder of a wellness brand that sells CBD-infused products.

We needed to bring our idea to life through design. That included our labels, web design, and our products.

We started with ideas for what our brand should look like. From there, they helped us with everything from our logo to website design. We started out with an introductory call to discuss our brand and what it represented. Then, they used an app to help us select words that accurately described our intended look and feel.

I interface directly with three people on their team, but they likely have a bigger group working on our account behind the scenes. Their founders are very engaged in working with us.

My brother, who’s another founder of this business, first heard about them while doing online research. We’re based on New York, and they’re in Chicago. Despite not being local, they seemed like they’d be the best for the job.

We’ve spent between $10,000–$15,000.

We started working with them in June 2019, and the engagement is ongoing.

There are tons of steps required to launch a successful, and a pivotal aspect of that is the design. Everyone here has been very happy with their ideas and deliverables. They were able to help us see the potential for our brand in a new way. The team has been helpful since day one, so I was excited about leaving a review for them.

We communicated over email and phone. Their communication skills were of high quality, giving us the comfort we needed to move forward.

We’ve worked with multiple companies, and they’re the easiest and smoothest option. They were great about hearing us out and bringing our vision to life. Their team truly listens to us, using the information to execute effectively.

They’re great. I don’t have anything for them to improve upon.

Take an introductory call with them and hear them out. The best way to establish a relationship is to start communicating with them.

Burwood Group is an IT consulting and integration firm. We do technology consulting and operations work, specifically in the areas of communication and collaboration, cloud and automation, and security. I’m the director of marketing communications.

Initially, I needed some relatively minor graphic design assistance because we don’t have an in-house graphic designer. We later needed help with rebranding and new website design.

First, they did some graphic design using Adobe Suite. It had been about five years since we’d done any color or graphic updates. We were looking for a modern twist on our brand colors and identity. It was a large project involving a brand refresh and uplift. They put together a new brand guide and a short style guide with a total uplift of our brand’s fonts, design features, and colors.

The two designers and managing partners, Blair (Founder/Managing Partner, Concentric Design) and Jeff (Founder/Creative Director, Concentric Design), were my primary contacts.

Blair used to work at our company. I was very familiar with him as a graphic designer. We had a legacy relationship with another design firm who was more focused on web design, but it wasn’t working out. They weren’t very responsive or proactive. I knew Blair had recently started his own firm and that I liked his work, so I reached out to him.

$25,000.

We started working together in March 2017 and the work is ongoing.

The rebrand has been very positive. A number of employees have remarked on how nice and fresh it looks. They really like the new graphic elements they introduced into our style, our collateral, and content. It not only involves new design elements, but it gave us a whole new standard set of templates. It’s now a lot easier for us to do design things internally.

They’ve been fantastic. They’re very responsive with problem resolution or issues. We’ve never had any issues getting hold of them in an emergency situation. With the website project, we had a little miscalculation around the scope and its duration which resulted in it being a bit more expensive than we anticipated. It’s nothing that I was upset about, but they didn’t estimate how long the project would take accurately.

They’re really good at providing different design options at the start of any project. No matter what it is, they get back to me with three or four different takes on the design. They’re very receptive to feedback—there have been times when I’ve told them I didn’t like anything. If I give them constructive direction, they’re very accommodating to that.

Don’t be afraid to voice your opinions on the work that they’re producing. They’re really open minded. Their goal is for you to be happy. Be honest with them to contribute to an honest working relationship.