Rebranding EVEREVE: Create a Brand Book That Inspires Joy
Creative Director and designer Crystal Jensen worked at some of Minneapolis’ legendary agencies — including Mono, Fame and Black Retail — before finding security in freelancing. Her work on the rebrand of EVEREVE, a “fashion authority for moms,” and its subsequent brand book was driven by a straightforward brief: create a brand book that conveys joy.
The reworked brand better reflected the Evereve retail experience
Recognizing Opportunity
A bad dressing room experience in 1997 left new mom and soon-to-be EVEREVE founder Megan Tamte wondering what had happened to the joy of retail shopping. Reimagining the retail experience, Tamte and her husband launched EVEREVE, which today delivers “modern and versatile clothing with just the right amount of edge” in nearly 90 stores nationwide and online.
In 2019, freelance designer Crystal Jensen was brought in to help rework the logo and brand to better reflect the experience of shopping at an EVEREVE retail location. Jensen and the small, nimble team at EVEREVE capitalized on the opportunity to reimagine the brand so it could scale as it continued to grow.
Designed to help EVEREVE retail stores understand and implement the new brand
Rebuilding the Brand
To create a brand book, the team customized Perfect Bound Booklets to help EVEREVE retail stores and merchandisers understand and implement the new brand. The book became a culmination of the rebranding exercise. Working closely with the founders, Jensen began exploring color palettes, typography, and patterns that made “joyful” tangible. “They just really needed to feel it,” she said. “Something that conveys joy. How do you do that through design?”
Starting with shopping bags and store signs, the evolution of Brand EVEREVE began to roll out. “It’s fun and it’s playful and sometimes I look at it and I’m surprised,” Jensen said. “It’s delightful that a brand would be willing to take such a big leap because it is dramatically different than what they were doing before.”
Through the rebranding, Jensen and a small design team found ways to make the joy of EVEREVE tangible across many different pieces. “That was kind of an interesting challenge for me,” she said. “And I think it still has so much more room to grow.”
Guiding at Scale
Aside from capturing joy, a major challenge Jensen and the team faced with the rebrand was communicating it across the expansive EVEREVE organization. “When you’re talking about retail in 90 different stores, there’s a lot of people who will need to create things,” she said. “If someone’s coming new and has no idea what to do with these materials, it’s all built into a style guide.”
“When you’re talking about retail in 90 different stores, there’s a lot of people who will need to create things.”
The objective of a brand book is to establish guidelines that anyone can follow to effectively apply the brand, even, as Jensen puts it, people who “might not have that creative side.” Designed and produced for a company-wide meeting about the brand relaunch, EVEREVE ’s brand book came together quickly: it took Jensen and team about 24 hours as she recalls.
Designing the book for online printing with Smartpress’ customizing options, Jensen got to experiment with interior and cover paper stocks, paper weights, UV coatings, full-color printing and more booklet printing options.
Fortunately, the content for the book already largely existed. Images, curated from the ongoing flow of photoshoots, combined with brand statements provided the book’s foundation. Typefaces and color palettes from EVEREVE brand materials Jensen and her team had previously designed guided the direction and details.
Also fortunate? Access to Smartpress’ vast online printing services and team of print experts to help.
Stylish Outcome
Working for a fashion brand, where look-and-feel is critical, Jensen admits to being very hands-on when it comes to color. Her design team specified very deliberate PMS colors when it came to items like bags and signage.
Translating that to digital printing for the brand book could have been tricky. “They turned out really great,” she said. “[Smartpress] did a really good job nailing our brand’s feel.”
Hint: Get inspired to create a brand book and more with our booklet help:
