Jan 12

10 Years of Milestones: Whitestone Anniversary

THE INSPIRATION

On January 14th, 2023, Whitestone celebrated 10 years as a business. This milestone led to the creation of the Whitestone 10 Year Anniversary Campaign, which recognizes our success as a business over the past decade and will be highlighted throughout this monumental year. The campaign focused on the milestones Whitestone has achieved and incorporated our core ethos of Human, Collaborative, Contemporary, Original, and Reliable.

Our art department designed a chapter of our logo and brand standards that sits alongside our heritage logo and brand standards to highlight the anniversary. This chapter is a nod to the past achievements of Whitestone.

THE CAMPAIGN

The design team at Whitestone met with our President, Joseph Sommer, to brainstorm ideas for the 10 Year Anniversary Campaign. Joseph and the team decided that it was important to highlight the stone in the company name, Whitestone. They discussed the major milestones Whitestone has achieved and the need for a clear visual that presents these milestones. A major milestone has been the evolution of our brand logo

LIGHTHOUSE

The lighthouse was the original logo for Whitestone. The lighthouse represented the family and human values and shined a light forward towards future endeavors.

GEODE

Years later we rebranded the logo from the lighthouse to the first version of a stone. The stone was chosen to represent the commitment and pledge we make to provide an easy and enjoyable purchasing experience while producing quality custom branded products for our clients.

STONE

While the original stone logo served us well, we eventually grew out of it and felt the vibrant shades and clunky geometry were keeping us in a startup lens. Our current logo keeps in mind our brand motto, “No Two Stones are Alike” by showing three unique stone shapes. The stones change color and shape based on our clients individual brand identity.

THE CAMPAIGN

From there, each designer was tasked with presenting their ideas for the anniversary campaign to the entire team. They each created a unique pitch which included new imagery, photography, typography, social posts, branded merchandise, and a clear story line to embody all that Whitestone stands for.

There were many important stepping stones on the journey to be where we are today, 10 years in business.

The design team pitched their ideas to the staff, who had the opportunity to vote on their favorite of the campaigns. The winning campaign became the theme for our 10 Year Anniversary Campaign. This process gave every team member a voice and a clear understanding of the branding for our big celebration.

THE CONCEPT

The Whitestone Anniversary Campaign is modeled after the cairns stones and the practice of scrapbooking. Cairns are heaps of stones set up as landmarks or monuments.

Throughout the ten years of Whitestone’s existence, there have been many monumental experiences that have defined the company’s journey. The practice of scrapbooking is also a method of preserving monumental moments of a lifetime.

THE OUTCOME

With the combination of these two concepts, Whitestone’s 10 Year Anniversary pays an ode to the past, while shining a light on our future. Through the collaborative efforts of the people of Whitestone and its suppliers and clients, we came together to write this story.

The color palette that was used in the design of the campaign was carefully chosen to align with our Ethos. Each color was selected for its connection to a specific ethos.

Our Cairns shapes, scrapbooking style, and unique color palette combined to form the prints that can be used across web pages, newsletters, branded merchandise, and our social media channels.

Even our social media channels are excited to spread the word about Whitestone turning 10. We used the 10 Year Anniversary brand standards to design templates that will be used throughout the year when posting on social media.