Commence Studio® is a bespoke research and design firm ... We craft purposeful brands, products, and eCommerce experiences that turn conscious values into company value. We collaborate with large & small companies that we can inspire to change the world.

Commence Studio

We are a creative agency that's about forward movement

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Reno

Gravallese Co. products are driven by 100 years of heritage in barbering, by barbers for both themselves and those in the chairs before them.  For products created with meticulously researched natural ingredients, we built an organic brand narrative, and a visual identity that reflects attention to detail.

Building a brand based on tradition and advancement

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Vinnie, the master barber, strives to do better; they’re making more sustainable & plant-based grooming products. Our packaging designs support that effort and highlight each of those key ingredients.  The product photography was inspired by stone masonry, dedication to craft, and the unity between rough and beauty.

Steps towards sustainable packaging

The charm of the Gravallese Co. flagship barber shop isn’t limited to it’s in-person location. We implemented and themed the gravallese.co website to be just as welcoming, accessible, and informative as the shop experience. Utilizing Shopify for fast checkouts and driving sales, we were able to guide their team to launch and start selling online.

The digital storefront, ecommerce

We add personality and storytelling by drawing fierce animal characters paired with raw expressions of the plant ingredients. Perhaps we're all wild animals in need of a little grooming. 

Illustration as information and inspiration

Lid illustrations

We made it clear for customers to find their desired product with bright-yet-earthy colored labels, prominantly displayed ingredients, and themed categories.

Creating product families

Gravallese Co is a brand that appeals to those with and without a beard. Barbers and non-barbers. Speaking the notion that self care and wanting to look your best is available for everyone.

Transparent Product Photos

Gravallese Co. came to us to create their brand identity, packaging design, website, and product photography centered around the refinement of traditional grooming products and self-care.

Its one thing to explain an idea, its another to get the story across using visuals. We'll tell your story through a handcrafted experience not limited to illustration, typography and photography.

Graphic Design

Pixels are wonderful, but dialing in your physical packaging makes us giggle in an evil ‘stroke-our-mustache’ kinda way. We appeal to as many of their senses as possible here, from their eyes to their hands (and even their hearts).

Packaging

We'll work to strategize and develop a site that best tells your brand's story on the web. From a more simple one-page scroller to full eCommerce solutions and more, we'll be here from concept to launch. Not only will it work and look good - but you'll actually see a return on your investment.

Digital Design and Web Development

We'll work to conceptualize, strategize, and design a site that best tells your brand's story on the web. From a more simple one-page scroller to full ecommerce solutions and more, we'll be here from concept to launch. Not only will it work and look good - but you'll actually see a return on your investment.

Web Design

We love Shopify. Oh yes, we said it. From more than 10 successful deployments of our own development stores as well as certified Shopify Experts, we can go from design to code quickly leveraging a bit of Sass and Liquid templating. Let's talk about how we can drive sales through design, development, and some powerful Shopify storefronts.

Shopify Development

From strategy to development - Commence has extensive experience behind choosing the right eCommerce platform and what language to develop in. Down to a full understanding and respect for desktop commerce as well as mobile commerce, let's take a look at what you've got and how we can slowly take over the world together through online sales.

eCommerce Design

If wireframes are the blueprints, prototypes are the 3D walk-through where you can experience and test the interface before one line of code is written. We think a walk-through is nice before buying the house.

Prototyping

You’re one of a kind and we like that. This is where we take your brand and give it your signature look and feel across all mediums so you can start making a dent in that universe of yours.

Identity

Branding communicates your essence across all mediums, beginning with visual identity and including web interfaces and communications. Once it’s complete, you’ll be far ahead of the me-too’s in your field. Let’s look at ways we can get a clear image of your DNA as a company so we can make a mark in the world in a way that only you can. 

Branding

This is where we get to know you (and, more importantly, where you get to know yourself as a brand). When we’re done, we’ll have a gameplan for how to express your brand going forward.

Strategy

With over 5 years of experience in the field of typeface design and creation, we can deliver web-ready and print ready letter sets from serif to sans-serif, to condensed bold and expanded italics. Display or body copy, let’s do this.

Typeface Design

We serve a wide spectrum - from lifestyle, architectural, landscape, adventure, and product photography, keeping your images on-brand and making sure they merge consistently with both UI design as well as marketing and branding purposes.

Commercial Photography

We make sure brand that knows who it is, what it stands for, and why. Your brand positioning establishes solidarity in your organization and leaves a lasting impression in the marketplace. Some people want to work for their company in 10 years, run their company, or sell their company in 10 years, we'll lose sleep researching the best position possible to move forward.

Positioning

Nevada

Italian Heritage Brand & Grooming Products

First impressions can be everything. We worked alongside the wonderful team at Whitmore to design a purely unique brand identity and a rich, illustrative unboxing experience to leave a lasting impression on their customers.

Solid illustration gives your company the bona fide originality it deserves. Having a strong quiver of illustrative elements, your company will have the tools it needs to create a bold visual mark in the world.

Illustration

Every so often we set the keyboard aside and break out the brushes and ink. Nothing speaks originality and soul more than custom tailored artwork. It's been said time and time again - a picture says a thousand words

Analog Illustration & Typography

It's All About the Experience

50|50 logotype

33% details

50|50 Food Photography 

33% food photography

We knew the Zero Hospitality Group had something up their sleeves when they told us they were turning an old mechanic garage into a family-style restaurant in an upcoming neighborhood for Reno, NV. After a few branding and positioning exercises, we landed on Von Bismarck together. We were honored to be brazen with the brand across the architectural revival with historically themed typography, menu and web design, as well as food photography. 

Branding German Hospitality

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design and technology studio, crafting purposeful 

Project Listings

Logos

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Mango Materials

Black Rabbit Meads

Honey & Goldies

Anycart

OurThoughts / Blog / OurThoughts / Blog

Home Page

Archetypes in branding reflect the personality and narrative of a brand— helping to inform both marketing, as well as design and strategy.

What is a Brand Archetype?

From top 1,000 to top 100 design firms! Commence ranks amongst the best creative agencies. 

Commence Studio Named a Member of the Clutch Top 100

When it comes to overcoming fears of rebranding, fear not! Explore how to welcome change and why the reward outweighs the risk.

Facing Your Fears of Rebranding

You're ready to launch your Shopify store and you're wondering if you should use the basic Shopify theme or a Bespoke one. Click here for the comparison

Basic Theme vs Bespoke Shopify Theme Builds

If you are looking for ways to boost your company's sales online, Shopify can be a reliable tool. Here is how Shopify subscriptions can help improve your sales.

How Shopify Subscriptions Can Help Improve Your Sales

Learn how the adoption of sustainable packaging and design at your coffee company can improve its growth potential while lessening its environmental impact.

A Coffee Company Owner's Guide to Sustainable Packaging and Design

Vast sideways logo assets all colors

We lead with an expressive word mark - reflecting just that of Vast. As a well-respected consulting group, the identity had to bring clarity, accuracy and enthusiasm to the forefront. Bright unconventional colors give balance to the more serious side to the brand, leaving a lasting impression of forward thinking.

Leveraging experience through identity

Notebooks Mockup

“The site enables customers to identify their financial challenges and receive personalized service offerings, bringing ease to qualifying leads.”

Centered Text Section

Video: Mobile Scrolling

Vast’s extensive list of services required us to create a clear way to address each client’s unique needs, while simultaneously providing the viewer with  a concise view of their values as a whole.  

The team designed and developed a site that allows new potential customers to easily learn more about Vast’s purpose, mission, values and services.

Promoting Continued Success

Landing Page (Still)

For each engagement, Vast carefully selects a team with the appropriate industry expertise to ensure their ability to provide superior services at a lower cost.   The desire to clarify these areas of work lead our team to developing an improved stystem - three distinct paths to directly market to an array of different needs: Start, Fix and Grow.

Laying the Paths

Video: Start, Fix & Grow Interactions

Expressive identity system, interactive web design and development for Vast - a consulting group offering financial expertise and virtual accounting services to small businesses, primarily in the food industry space.

Identity, Web Design & Development

As a result out of frustration with traditional insurance shopping, Covered saw an opportunity to create a transparent and streamlined digital insurance marketplace. Their brand mark represents support and stability, expressing their commitment to making insurance easy to understand and purchase.

Humble beginnings

Family

As Covered had grown from a small app startup to a full digital insurance marketplace experience, Commence worked to expand and update their illustrations. This adaptive visual system helps convey complex and stuffy concepts in a meaningful way.

Commence wanted to give these illustrations a more prominent role in telling Covered’s story in a clear, concise, and consistent way. The artwork created is used across all parts of their marketing efforts— website, whitepapers, email campaigns, and presentations.

Refreshed illustrations

Commence created a set of characters to give a sense of community, inclusivity, and friendliness to the Covered brand. This extra human touch to their visual messaging reflects their values and effort to provide an easier insurance experience to people from all walks of life.

Supporting cast

Couples

Animations

“Commence’s award-winning designs consistently result in an increase in customer engagement. Along the way, they’ve been highly responsive, thoughtful, and engaged with the success of the project.”

Covered needed a new consumer-facing website as they quickly outgrew their old site. Their revitalized website includes general information, a partner portal, and consumer portal to purchase insurance.

New coat of paint

Commence created a backend system that can create new landing pages for each type of insurance as needed. As the technology around purchasing insurance expanded, Covered needed a way to meet the growing and broadening demand of all types of insurance.

Flexible systems

The Commence team designed and developed a website that allows customers to easily purchase insurance policies and receive quotes.

Nav (Video)

At Covered, transparent insurance options and services help improve customer engagement and satisfaction for insurance companies. Commence created the partnership site to speak to their business oriented audience in detail.

We mean business to business

Colors

From their beginning, we’ve helped Covered across all levels of their brand and product: comprehensive brand identity, web development, illustration, and UI. Based in Denver, Colorado, their mission is focused on simplifying the insurance process.

Web Design and Development

The illustrations and messaging, created by Commence, is to highlight the unique and traditional ways olive are harvested in Italy with accute attention to detail.

Farmers to the forefront

Grid

Grid 2

Charming packaging design for the Italian olive oil company producing organic and non-gmo ingredients, that illustrates traditional and quality values.

Organic olive oil packaging with an Italian origin

Four Image Grid 01

Outsiders Hair Studio partnered with us to create their latest summer lookbook. They're passionate about building a confident community while creating a safe and inclusive space for all. Our team designed this lookbook with these values in mind. Photography and editorial design all done in house at our Reno studio.

Rethinking Beauty with Outsiders Hair Studio

First Grid

The Commence designers worked closely with founders Clint and Cory Vernon, and Kyle Kuczynski to create the new visual representation of their brand so customers and stakeholders would make no mistake for what type of services they provide.

So, it's a messaging application?

Animation

Mobile phones have drastically changed how we communicate with loved ones, but also how we connect to businesses. MessageDesk turns text messaging into an asset for business operators, and Commence brought that purpose to the forefront of their brand.

Building a brand narrative

Small-to-medium businesses are a diverse crowd, and MessageDesk provides service-based solutions unique to them. The Commence designers and illustrators created an expansive and inclusive illustration library, apart of their flexible design system, to visually express their service offerings and client-base.

Doctors and plumbers and business executives

“The new brand identity and illustration assets have brought our professional pressence to the next level. We get many compliments at expos and in emails.”

After meeting with MessageDesk, the Commence digital design team ran evaluations of their website to gain knowledge from data-driven insights and varying user experiences. 

From there, the design was built with goals in mind to not only alleviate issues from their previous site, but give new functionalities for a website that will grow easily with their company.

Strategic web design

MessageDesk also acts as a resource to small business with guides and sales advice. Commence designed components that make them easily accessible and scalable.

Comprehensive components

Team

To compliment the new brand and elevate their presence on the internet, the Commence creative director and  photographer produced headshots and team portraits of the MessageDesk team that show their personalities and professionalism. 

The friendly faces behind the screen

From the subtle email signature, to the app icon, the Commence team designed the graphics and supported their implementation. Transitioning into a new brand can be daunting, but we’re here to help.

Shall every interaction, be a branded one

Mockups

MessageDesk is a connection-driven messaging company servicing small businesses and teams based in Reno, NV.  

The company came to us for the redesign of their brand identity, website design, strategy, and illustrations.

Putting the message in brand messaging

Dual Image Grid

The monogram brand mark symbolizes a swiftness of motion while bringing recognition to the brand’s namesake.

Brand Mark

Logo over gym image; Logo orange bg

Fitlab prides itself on fitness expertise and a welcoming, inclusive service provided by the gym and trainers.

Commence collaborated with the owner, Valerie, to develop a set of taglines and imagery to represent these values.

Fitness For All

A simple yet bright color palette was used to instill the warm and welcoming nature of the gym.

Color Palette

Fitlab’s goal is to cultivate an atmosphere that inspires people to work out and get stronger together. We created a flexible design system utilizing bold typography to communicate brand messaging and wayfinding throughout.

Signage & Corporate Collateral

Three Column Image Grid

A strong and bold identity system developed for a fitness gym dedicated to their community, bringing an inclusive atmosphere to the Northern California area.

Brand Identity

Logo on blue bg; spices product photo

Barnacle Foods strives to keep the ecosystems they rely on for ingredients as healthy as they found them. Ensuring that these resources continue to flourish for future generations to enjoy.  The Commence designers created a new logo that gives Barnacle Foods an organically recognizeable mark and scalable design system that reflects their company culture (and namesake).

Hello brandmark

BBQ sauce; Barnacle logo w wave

The Commence designers collaborated closely on the project with founder Lia and operator Rosa to bring forth a unified family of packaging that shows their quirky personalities and culinary creative products.

Bold packaging for unique foods

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Barnacle Foods initially came to Commence back in 2019 to design a single label for their Bullwhip Hot Sauce. The brief was to feature a salty seaman and the Bullwhip Kelp ingredients.  In addition to that, Commence pitched an illustration of a salty female character, fitting for the primarily women-lead company. The new hot sauce label and female character was a hit, and Barnacle wanted to build off this momentum!

How it began

The Commence designers created custom labels for all 16 core products; they created a flexible yet consistent design system. Each label features unique illustrations of original characters, Alaskan landscapes, and signature ingredients.  The artwork illustrated around the bottles and jars builds on the brand’s narrative and encourages customers to pick up and turn them to discover more around the bend.

Illustrated labels

Labels

Commence designers and developers worked alongside each other to build an ecommerce website that showcases the new brand identity, captures more search results, makes subscription savings clear and put the product narrative at the forefront.  Barnacle Foods now has in-depth landing pages about Kelp farming, their brand story and provides a faster shopping experience for their customers.

Optimizing the shopping experience

Rhubarb Jam rotating web

“The new brand identity is highly recognizeable and sets Barnacle Foods up to scale with sustainability, exploration, and environmental consciousness at the forefront.”

Business Cards & Boxes

Food Photos

Sauce Photos

Rebranding, illustration, packaging and web development for the sustainably-driven Barnacle Foods, bringing locally harvested ingredients to Alaska and beyond.

Alaskan kelp foods & sustainable packaging

The Commence designers collaborated closely on the project with founding principal Travis Brown and the team of directors at the the school to realize an identity that inspires and encourages exploration across the school. 

A brand that resonates with students and faculty

Pharos Academy is unapologetically committed to educating Bronx kids. Casting a huge beacon of light and achievement in one of the lowest-performing school districts in New York City.  The Commence designers developed a graphic toolkit of core elements that give the school a high degree of creative flexibility and recognition.

A Guiding Light

The primary mark is built from a combination of monogram “P” and “A” as well as a lighthouse. The name Pharos is derived from the name of the ancient Lighthouse of Alexandria, one of the seven wonders of the anceint world.

A monogram and a lighthouse

“The identity draws on Pharos Academy’s values to create a modern design system that reinforces the school’s bold, intellectually curious positioning.”

Pharos Academy Charter School believes in the power of team, or CREW as they call it. Commence Studio designed a set of crests to represent the crew that is the school.

The shields

What creature would you most often find near a lighthouse? A seagull no doubt. The team created a flexible set of designs featuring the fierce sea-loving character.

Charter schools have mascots too

To assist and guide how the Pharos Academy staff and students show up and contribute everyday, the team developed a set of illustrations relaying the values of Radical Inclusivity, Collaborative Curiousity, Storytelling, and more.

Illustrating Community Culture

After establishing the brand identity for Pharos Academy, the team moved forward onto the web design, strategy and development phase of the project.

Showcasing the brand to the web

Our studio worked to create a fully customized framework and design components for the Pharos Academy website. The goal was to create an easily navigated digital funnel for prospective staff members, students and their families.

Getting people where they need to go quickly

Institutional identity and web development for the K-12 public charter school in the Bronx, New York, that draws on the extraordinary, forward-thinking vision the school executes.

We are a creative agency that's about forward movement

Italian Heritage Brand & Grooming Products

It's All About the Experience

Branding German Hospitality

Commence is a strategic design and technology studio, crafting purposeful brands, products, and experiences that turn cultural values into company value.

Vast

Covered

Olivaio

Outsiders Hair Studio

MessageDesk

Fitlab Strong

Barnacle Foods

Pharos Academy

Sierra Well

Cingulate Group

Gravallese Co.

Black Rabbit Mead Company

What is a Brand Archetype?

Commence Studio Named a Member of the Clutch Top 100

Facing Your Fears of Rebranding

Basic Theme vs Bespoke Shopify Theme Builds

How Shopify Subscriptions Can Help Improve Your Sales