It Is Time To Dance
Creative agency Schipper Design has announced their company rebrand and name change to Waltz Creative. When Kathy Schipper founded the agency in 2004, using her name was an easy choice. Proprietor brands make trademarking and name recognition easy for a start-up agency. Times have changed though, and it’s important for a company’s name to reflect the services and unique qualities it offers. Recognizing this led Kathy to lobby for potential new names and snagging URLs just in case. Then one day after shelter-in-place orders began in the Spring of 2020 she shared a new name – Waltz – excitement began to build… soon it was time to dance.
“The name ‘Waltz’ is a great metaphor for our approach to design,” says Co-owner and Managing Partner, Beth Welch. “So much of our success lies in how we partner with our clients. We go toe-to-toe and, with practice, pull off some amazing performances. It also has a nice ring to it that’s short, memorable, and trademarkable. We changed ‘Design’ to ‘Creative’ to reinforce our full-agency capabilities in strategy, marketing, video, web and digital, in addition to graphic design. We’ve spent years perfecting what we do, and that’s why it flows so well. After all, no one wants to be embarrassed on the dance floor.”
“The new Waltz brand identity system infuses movement through dynamic variable typography, boldness through black and white stripes, our plucky personality through fun icons and graphic treatments and a fresh color palette that is both soothing and lively,” says Zack Shubkagel Rovella, Creative Director.
The new brand is inspired by the name, Waltz, with the logotype mimicking the thicks and thins of music symbols like the Treble Clef. Black and white stripes serve as a connecting element to drive energy and life throughout. The neon color palette provides pops of energy and the type system features a typeface that allows the creative team to inject fluid movement into their website and marketing materials.
The Waltz team worked to ensure the new identity system will translate across digital, print and environmental touch-points. In addition to their visual identity, Waltz developed a voice, messaging and brand promise: Rally, Revive + Resonate – shorthand for how they intend to approach design differently.
Director of Client Services, Heidi Ash, explains how the rebrand affects Waltz’s clientele. “Everything clients have come to love about and rely on with Schipper is the same, but our rebranding process allowed us to examine what truly defines us and clarify it in our new “mantras,” which were refined from a key set of core values that the company has lived by for more than 17 years. We are driven to delight our clients with every interaction, solution, and outcome. Together we work, using design to solve problems and deliver solutions focused on outcomes over output. We never stop improving, always looking for new ways of communicating with our clients and their audiences. We believe every decision matters – from sourcing eco-friendly paper to selecting images that are inclusive and show diversity. Plus Ultra is what we consider the cherry on top – delivering something that is expected, plus something you couldn’t imagine,” says Ash. Waltz Creative will continue partnering with B2B and B2C businesses in the agriculture/food, MedTech, health care, technology, education, and nonprofit sectors while living true to their new brand promise: Rally, Revive + Resonate.
