A new day for The Dude
Dude Solutions and New Kind pay tribute to operations’ unsung heroes
Background
For nearly two decades, Dude Solutions’ SaaS-based software has helped operations leaders stay on top of work orders, determine asset health, maintain systems, and make smarter decisions. From manufacturing to education, healthcare to government—the people we trust to maintain the most important places in our lives trust Dude Solutions to help them do their jobs.
The team at Dude Solutions turned to New Kind to help refresh their brand story and visual identity to align their efforts as they usher in their next phase of growth and innovation. With ambitious goals, a clear mission, and a team ready to transform the world of operations management—a new day for The Dude had come.
Industries: Technology
Services: Identity System, Positioning, Research, Storytelling
Why New Kind?
"Only New Kind could have captured the spirit of The Dude and brought it to life so successfully with our refreshed brand story and visual identity. They designed a process to bring out the best ideas from our team, combine them with their own expertise, and create something new and compelling in the process. Next to those of us that work here, no one knows The Dude like New Kind."
Kelley Crawford
Senior Director, Marketing Communications & Strategy
Research
Getting to know The Dude
We began the research phase with deep dive into the Dude Solutions brand. We conducted interviews and surveys to collect insights from employees and clients. We also reviewed all existing brand materials and the competitive landscape. Our research laid the foundation for our work on the future brand.
Then we facilitated a workshop at New Kind, bringing together two dozen “Dudes” from across the company to share the research results and collaborate on creating the future brand strategy. Using the research results as a foundation, the team participated in a series of activities to better understand The Dude’s competitive landscape, begin to develop a positioning strategy, and align around the framework of an authentic brand story.
Storytelling
Empowering the unsung hero
From day one, Dude Solutions has been dedicated to empowering the people who work every day to maintain and improve the places we depend on. From schools and parks to hospitals and factories, operations leaders trust Dude Solutions software to help manage their facilities and assets.
These unsung heroes, we realized, were the primary characters in the Dude Solutions story. We wanted to create a narrative that elevated their importance, gave them the credit they deserve for the role they play in serving society, and shared how Dude Solutions empowers them to do the best work of their lives. It’s a story encapsulated by three simple words: Own Your Operations.
Design
A fresh take on a friendly face
Our research told us the previous Dude Solutions logo was beloved by many employees and clients alike. But the organization — its product, its people, and its reach — has grown a lot in the last two decades. So we knew the redesigned identity needed to represent both the company it has become while preserving the core values and spirit that will never change.
The most prominent aspect of the Dude Solutions identity is The Dude himself. We wanted to preserve his most iconic elements — relatable glasses, friendly glance, welcoming smile — and use them to create a simplified and inclusive character design that’s flexible and scalable for the modern SaaS company Dude Solutions has become.
Building a System
Much of the supporting visual system centers around a design element we call the Empower Arrow. Inspired by a building’s cornerstone, we designed it to represent the foundational importance of Dude Solutions’ software when it comes to the management of the facilities we all depend on.
This simple geometric shape is designed to embody the spirit of “pivotal strength,” and to serve as the visual foundation for background patterns, iconography styles, calls-to-action, and other pieces of the Dude Solutions identity toolkit.
Outcomes
Bringing the brand to life
The revitalized Dude Solutions brand made its debut at Dude University, the company’s yearly client summit. The refreshed brand story served as the source material for keynote talks and product demonstrations.
In the time since launch, the new visual identity inspired a host of updates across the organization: splashed across new team t-shirts, office signage, printed materials, a revamped website, and more.
We continued our work with the Dude Solutions team by extending the work through an Employer Value Proposition story. It helped them excite current and prospective employees and rally all of their people around a common mission.
All together, the new Dude Solutions brand embodies the spirit of what The Dude has always been—supportive, innovative, intelligent, personable—while at the same time giving the organization and its people a foundation for future growth.
