Building a brand board members, regulators, and instructors could all stand behind

Situation

ACCT teaches people to build and inspect challenge courses, the ropes-and-ziplines kind, where a mistake is not hypothetical. Their brand looked like a hobbyist forum. That's a trust problem, not just a design one, when the people reading it are safety regulators and insurance auditors deciding whether to take you seriously.

Approach

I rebuilt the identity system from the ground up: logo, type, the whole visual language, running it through discovery with board members and staff, a brand audit, and a strategy phase that settled on three themes: trust, structure, adventure. Getting board members, safety regulators, and industry veterans to agree on anything is rare. They agreed on this one.

Outcome

The system rolled out across print, digital, and event materials with one toolkit to keep it consistent going forward. A board member's reaction after rollout: "the first time we've ever felt truly professional." I'm still thinking about what the brand must have looked like before that.

• 6-phase brand system, discovery through rollout
• 3 stakeholder groups (board, regulators, industry veterans) aligned on one direction
• Full toolkit delivered for consistent use across print, digital, and events