Brand Development for B Corporations

“Dude. You need help with your logo design.”

That’s what I told Scott Flynn not long after he’d certified as a B Corporation. I’d been on the receiving end of one of his email newsletters. What I saw in the way of his brand logo didn’t match up with the quality of product that I knew he delivered.

Scott runs Flynner Design + Build. He’s truly a gem of a guy. He also designs and builds homes that are gems—from their aesthetic standpoint all the way through their design for sustainable performance.

A Brand for Sustainable Design and Building

His company has long been a leader in the field of energy-efficient, sustainable design and building, principally in residential construction though Flynner is now broadening into commercial construction as well. Flynner received one of the first green certifications under the National Green Building Standard (NGBS) in 2009--Certification #93 to be exact.

Scott showed interest in B Corps and I encouraged him to certify, which he accomplished last year. You can check out his company’s profile on the B Corporation site.

“We believe the health of people and planet is everyone's greatest asset,” said Scott. “To prove this and to demonstrate our passion to create positive change in the world, we found it invaluable to become B Corp certified.”

Re-Branding through Logo Design

But now it was time to do something about the logo, which Scott created himself a long time ago. As a brother-in-arms in the B Corp movement, we extended him a B Corp discount on the logo design, and away we went.

Our design team wanted the logo mark to be contemporary, reflect a high-performance positioning, and be progressive in attitude—forward leaning in the most positive of ways. We explored different shapes and decided on several options that used the F letterform of Flynner. We also played around with color, experimenting with some bold reds before we finally landed on a sweet shade of green to evoke the sustainable nature of his design and building.

"It was inspiring to work with the Oliver Russell team and to witness how enthusiastic they were about my company's success," said Scott. "Oliver Russell nailed it...their engagement into my company's re-branding efforts led to a kick-ass new logo!"

“Kick-ass.” Well, there you go. Scott just took the words right out of our mouth.