Galvanize

Galvanize, formerly ACL Services, is a global company that builds security, risk management, compliance, and audit software for some of the world’s largest organizations. Based in Canada, Galvanize has customers in 120 countries including 80% of the Fortune 500. However, their research prior to engaging Focus Lab uncovered that their brand was not performing to its full potential within the GRC (Governance, Risk, and Compliance) market.

The main challenge surrounded the fact that, due to their long history, the ACL brand was too well associated with their original analytics product; to the point that the company was being viewed only as a single product. This caused a great deal of confusion and misunderstanding surrounding any products other than analytics.

Galvanize strengthens organizations to do heroic work.

One of the visual exercises conducted onsite with the Galvanize team.

To usher in this next era of their history, the Galvanize team brought us new names for both the company and platform. The goal was to build a brand around these new identities so as to remove any preconceptions around their previous brand.

Our team started the project by traveling to Canada for an on-site kickoff. Following several days of exercises, in addition to thorough research and strategy sessions, we outlined a plan to develop a flexible, comprehensive brand system that conveyed Galvanize's refreshed brand attributes and authentic internal culture. It also needed to be flexible enough to adapt to the current and future product sub-brands under a hybrid brand architecture.

Galvanize Process 1
Gal Notebook
Following the onsite and strategy work, we look to hone in on some visual treatments.

Galvanize strengthens organizations to do heroic work. By bringing together audit, risk, and compliance through their Highbond platform, Galvanize mobilizes individuals so they can achieve great things collectively.

The new Galvanize mark represents the commitment to the heroic organizations they work with. In addition, the new Galvanize logotype is a fully custom geometric sans—its ownability highlighted by the unique tittle over the “i” that mimics shapes in the mark.

We created a unique mark—the Spangle—as a token of that unity and heroism. An emphatic array shattering the status quo, the Spangle is a monogram of cooperative power emblazoned on the hearts of their employees.

Pattern
Galvanize Mark Refinement@2X
Gal Display
Gal Handbook
Galvanize Mark Lettering Rationale@2X
Galvanize Full Lockup@2X
Gal Shirt02
Galvanize Giant G@2X

For Galvanize’s platform, HighBond, the team created a design that pulls directly from the visual elements within the Galvanize mark. It’s representative of two elements bonding into a singular entity, as well as conveying infinite possibilities for its customers, while feeling dynamic and protective.

Galvanize Child Brand Creation@2X
Gal Highbond Exploration
Gal Highbond Lockupw Child 02
We built a child visual identity system that is scalable and intentional.

We also designed a custom typeface that allows the Galvanize team to create future child products without sacrificing the brand’s integrity.

When it came time to create a visual system for Galvanize’s future product names, the team went above and beyond. Valence is HighBond’s proprietary custom typeface for building out product names. It's a geometric sans that nods to Galvanize and HighBond’s letterforms, but doesn’t contain any of their unique glyphs, which help create a visual hierarchy. 

Gal Typeface 03
Galvanize Valence Typeface Rules@2X
Gal Name Ext

Our verbal identity and messaging work began with a brand archetype card exercise. We needed to define the specific roles Galvanize plays in their customers’ and employees’ stories, and how best to express those relationships. This provided an authentic platform from which to communicate. Once we discovered that Galvanize aligned with the qualities of the Mentor and Entrepreneur archetypes, our team dove into making sure those attributes rang true in their brand voice, as well as the new company messages we crafted for them.

A full-scale rebrand isn’t complete without retooling your voice, messaging, and communications strategy.

Gal Verb
A peek into the 59-page communications framework we built for Galvanize.

The motion work for Galvanize was designed around their new mark, the Spangle. The objective was to embody strength, unity, and three levels of security while also supporting the brand’s identity and mission. In addition, the team worked through sonic branding that emphasized emotion and storytelling throughout the motion pieces, thus giving Galvanize an ownable soundscape they could live and grow with.

Social Galvanize Motion Condensed Ending 00025
Designed completely in-house including Galvanize's new sonic branding

They say there is no better way to get fired as a CMO than taking a shot at rebranding an existing, successful company. So I suppose the successful teamwork here was pretty near and dear to my heart. Today, we’re smugly looking down the barrel of a damn successful rebrand. We started off on the right foot and never took that foot off the gas pedal.

Craig Clark, CMO