C R Allen EV Specialists

Creating a sub-brand that’s anything but sub-par

C R Allen & Sons have been around since the time of the tape cassette. An independent, family-run garage that’s built a reputation along the south coast for fixing anything with an engine.

Cars, trucks, tractors… you name it, they’ve tested, tweaked and tinkered with it. A lovely bunch of self-confessed grease monkeys with big hearts and even bigger tool chests.

So, when we were asked to create a sub-brand for their electric vehicle branch, it didn’t take long for our dollopers to start grinning like a tabby on its third dose of catnip.

Getting under the bonnet

When C R Allen & Sons first got in touch, they wanted a separate brand to cater for electric vehicle servicing, maintenance and repairs. But after some serious head scratching, we thought it would be wiser to create a sub-brand feeding off the rep of their master brand.

The client agreed. A rainbow appeared. We moved on with the discovery stage.

Workshop at a garage, err, workshop

Creating a sub-brand comes with creative baggage. You’ve got to acknowledge the master brand visual and verbal assets, protect its DNA and stay away from anything that curbs its consistency.

After a morning with the mechanics, we had enough insight to prep, prime and prune our initial design ideas.

We started with modifying the master brand logo, adding a bolt of electricity to denote the type of service, while also protecting brand recognition and consistency.

Next up, the logo type. We played around with naming ideas, but all agreed on C R Allen EV Specialists, as it felt more direct (and it keeps the algorithms happy, too).

Then it was on to colour. A strong blue helped to emphasise the idea of electricity and power, while not conflicting with colours used in the master brand.

And like any respectable design agency, we also shared some brand-in-use images.

With fresh design dollops in full flow, we defined the sitemap and crafted the copy. Designers, developers and copywriters all working together to bring the sub-brand to life.

As part of the dollop delivery, we left the guys with a brand playbook: a neat ‘n’ tidy document with links to all their visual assets, as well as stupid-simple instructions on how to add pages to their new website.