Bolstered branding and identity

The Bolstered story starts with a simple insight: talent retention is the holy grail of human resources. Hiring new talent is expensive, risky, and time consuming. companies try all sorts of things to keep their top talent.

In this context, perks are shorthand for how much the company cares about employees’ well being. The problem is that the perks don’t usually match up with what employees actually want and need. When they do, accessing those perks is a hassle. Many employees never use them. The result is almost worse than no perks. Time is wasted and employees don’t feel cared for.

Bolstered helps companies deliver on the promise of meaningful perks. Their concierge service offers on-demand perks that matter to employees: perks that free up time. The result: more time, less stress, and happier teams.

But first, Bolstered needed a brand and strategy that would speak to their two key audiences: HR managers and employees. Over the course of three months, we worked with them to determine and refine their brand’s personality so it would do just that. We also delivered a logo, visual identity, sales deck and web design to get them started.

Process

Bolstered’s success depends on two key constituencies that have competing expectations. Human Resources leaders are the gatekeepers: they have the power to sign up and pay for the service on behalf of their company. HR generally still operates very traditionally. To sign up companies, Bolstered has to look professional and trustworthy.

Bolstered also has to inspire employees to use the service. To attract them, the design needed to convey that the service is user focused and easy to use.

The resulting designs balanced both needs. We started by exploring user personas and journey maps. Once the personas were clear, the Bolstered team determined the brand’s qualities. Finally, we determined visual cues for the brand characteristics. With those ‘visual keys’ firmly in place, the In-House team began designing logos. Some concepts emphasized versatility and stretching one’s time. In the end, the selected direction visually represented the “bolster” by placing booster arc under the “o”, which also became the basis for the bolstered icon.

Results

Once Bolstered selected their logo, we perfected it and developed its supporting identity: color palette, typefaces, icons and symbols, a guide for image-usage and even a custom pattern based on the logo’s mark.

The full set of files was delivered along with its brand style guide, which is a concise but detailed manual for using their brand.