The Bear Factory
The Bear Factory is a leader in the “Build Your Own Plush” movement, with a focus on sustainability and quality. Working with InsideOut Design + Development, our team was brought in to help evolve The Bear Factory’s website branding, and based on the work we accomplished, we were asked to elevate the brand as a whole.
The Bear Factory’s brand already had so many powerful elements working for it, but we worked with them to determine the best way to distill their message, reflect their core values, and showcase the brand’s strengths. As a family-owned business focused on being an environmentally conscious provider of products and experiences for children, we made it our mission to ensure that their image was both approachable and inspiring.
Project Specs
Agency InsideOut Design + Development
Project Type Brand Creative Execution (Logo Update, Website Design, Print Design)
Services Creative Direction, Graphic Design, Copywriting
View TheBearFactory.com
Brand Scape
The Bear Factory’s design update started with our Brand Scape process. This process allows us to explore different directions or evolutions for the brand with explorations into fonts, colors, typography, photography, and more. This guide becomes the foundation for all future visual work we do, including the website.
With such an established brand already in place, we decided that maintaining the brand-equity they already had, and taking it to the next level instead was the most strategic move.
Website Design
Warm Introduction
The messaging and imagery used is intended to convey the inviting, playful, and kid-friendly tone of the brand—making users feel immediately welcome.
Illustrated Elements
Along with colors, fonts, and messaging, the illustrations found throughout the site are used to reflect the lightheartedness of the brand.
Textures
The employment of textures throughout the site transform the digital nature of the website into something that feels handmade, and reflective of the brand.
LOGO Update
The Bear Factory’s logo required only a few updates, and while minimal, they helped take the design to the next level.
A large part of the update was related to the colors within the logo. The blue was shifted to a darker navy that works with the rest of the brand’s color palette more harmoniously, while the green was also adjusted so it would be more visible when placed on white. It was important to us to not overhaul the established brand, but to help elevate it.
In addition to shifting the colors to display better both in digital and print uses, several small adjustments were made to the logo to ensure that their recognizable brand mark will stand the test of time. Individually, the adjustments may be minor, but for a brand that uses their logo in large scale applications this attention to detail the is essential.
Icon Library
Icons are an essential component to many brands. Serving as an effective way of communicating concepts and ideas, both by enhancing accompanying text or standing alone.
For The Bear Factory we kept in mind the friendly, handmade pillars of their brand when creating their icons. Using a combination of solid and dashed lines, it was our goal to make the icons feel like something drawn by hand and fun, while still grounded and recognizable.
Working with the client, it was our goal to create a library of icons that could be used on their website, in print material, and in social media.
Click on image to enlarge
Brand Guide
Brand guides, or brand style guides, are comprehensive documents used to define and standardize a brand’s visual and verbal identity. These guides serve as a reference for ensuring consistency across all marketing materials, products, and communications.
For The Bear Factory we wanted to ensure that every piece of content or design maintained a unified appearance and messaging as they grow—strengthenomg brand recognition and building trust with their audience.
Our focuses within the guide included: logo guidelines, color palette, typography, photography & illustration styles, and tone of voice and messaging.
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