2025 marks the 20th anniversary of our business, BmDodo Strategic Design. Over the past two decades, we’ve seen first-hand that the organizations that thrive are not always the biggest or the loudest. They are the ones that know how to stand out. Time and again, one factor has proven decisive: using design as a strategic tool to manage a brand and position a business for success.
Marty Neumeier captures this well in The Brand Gap:
“A brand is not a logo. A brand is not a corporate identity system. It’s a person’s gut feeling about a product, service, or company. Because it depends on others for its existence, it must become a guarantee of trustworthy behavior.”
Your brand lives in the perceptions of your clients and stakeholders. Design is the tool that helps align those perceptions with your true value and how your business makes people feel. It differentiates you from the competition, corrects misperceptions when needed, and reinforces trust. In practice, design shapes how people perceive your business, how they engage with your story, and the impressions they carry forward.
In this way, design becomes the edge that helps organizations stand out in crowded markets, build lasting loyalty, and drive sustainable growth.
In this article, we reflect on the lessons learned from our 20-year journey and share two case studies that demonstrate how design strategy has helped organizations, from businesses to non-profits, clarify their brand, position themselves with confidence, and achieve measurable results.
ESG Solutions was a Kingston-based manufacturer of micro-seismic monitoring systems. The company had the brain power to outperform its larger competitors, but prospective customers often perceived it as a small player in the marketplace. In 2007, we rebranded ESG to help it stand out and to showcase its leadership in the micro-seismic monitoring space. The results were immediate. Revenues grew significantly after the rollout of the new brand identity. Recruiting staff and convincing them to relocate to Kingston became easier. Most importantly, the question about ESG’s size disappeared. In 2014, ESG Solutions was acquired by UK-based company Spectris Plc. and again in 2021 by Deep Imaging forming one of the world’s foremost subsurface diagnostics companies.
AdapCS was a team of software developers who spent six years creating an IT solution for the healthcare industry. Their clinically driven program was designed to improve patient flow and reduce wait times in hospitals, a leading issue in healthcare systems worldwide. While their software was advanced and backed by healthcare expertise, their marketing and communications strategies were not producing the desired growth. In 2009, we were hired to reposition their brand. The company was renamed Novari Health, rebranded, and supported with a systematic approach to communications that positioned them for success. Growth accelerated rapidly, and in July 2025 Novari was acquired by VitalHub Corp.
Design plays a pivotal role in our lives. It influences the products we buy, the information we consume, the food we choose to eat, the clothes we wear, and the cars we drive. When applied thoughtfully and strategically, design can have a profound impact on any business, organization, and the community at large.
Brian Dodo, Principal / Strategic Designer, BmDodo Strategic Design
Article published in the October issue of the digital magazine We Are Kingston - Read it here!