The Challenge
Two Problems Disguised As One
Indiana Economic Development Association (IEDA) had something most organizations would envy: a built-in moment to reintroduce itself. Indiana’s only statewide association for economic development practitioners was ready to grow beyond its existing membership. It just needed a clearer story to tell first.
That meant untangling a persistent mix-up with the IEDC, a separate state agency, building name recognition for the IEDA Foundation, its funding arm, and unifying messaging ahead of an annual conference. A lot to do, and exactly the right time to do it.
THE OPPORTUNITY WASN’T JUST TO CLARIFY AN IDENTITY. IT WAS TO BUILD MEMBERSHIP, VISIBILITY, AND CREDIBILITY, ALL AT ONCE.
Professional associations earn their place when practitioners see them as the natural home for their work. IEDA had earned it: 400-plus members, a Statehouse presence, and a track record going back to 1982. The next step was making sure that story reached beyond the people who were already in the room.
What We Did
Reposition Then Redesign
We led with strategy, letting positioning guide every design decision that followed. Phase one was discovery: interviews, audits, peer benchmarking against Ohio, Michigan, and Illinois counterparts, and a 30-page roadmap built around three priorities: clarify messaging, increase visibility, and build member value.
Rebranding a statewide association means making a deliberate choice about who you’re for and holding that line. For IEDA, the answer was clear: the practitioners doing the work, not the businesses they serve or the state agency that funds them. That single choice shaped everything after — the speech-bubble logo, the brand line One State, Many Voices, the visual language across every touchpoint. The IEDA Foundation received a related but visually distinct identity, giving both entities room to stand on their own while remaining unmistakably part of the same family.
Brand Strategy
Discovery, qualitative audit, peer benchmarking, and a 30-page strategic roadmap.
Visual Identity System
Logo, color, typography, and templates for IEDA and the IEDA Foundation.
Brand Launch Guide
A phased rollout playbook covering internal alignment, digital launch, and member activation.
The Result
A Story Told In Four Words
Pages of Strategic Foundation
Built before a single logo was drawn, giving IEDA a roadmap it can grow into for years
Complete Brand Identities
IEDA and the IEDA Foundation — each with their own presence and personality, built to work together
Members now represented by a brand as strong as the work they’re already doing across every corner of Indiana
The new IEDA brand launched in time for the annual conference with a complete brand book, launch guide, presentation, email templates, and a social system the team can run themselves. One State, Many Voices gave the association a line that explains what it is in four words, for the first time in its history. With a brand that finally matched its substance, IEDA had something new: a starting point worth building on.
If You're Trying to Tell a Regional Story, We Know This Territory.
Whether you're positioning a place, marketing what makes a community worth investing in, or helping decision-makers see what they've been flying past, that's the kind of work we do and where we tend to do it best.