WINTERSTEIGER goes "green"

The year 2007 saw the "go live" of the WINTERSTEIGER brand's most extensive relaunch to date. What was the motivation behind this?

10 different colors!

In 2005, the joint showroom displayed products in 10 different colors. Visitors were confused about whether certain products were actually WINTERSTEIGER products, or whether they were from other companies. The history of the different product lines led to this variety of colors. For example, Seedmech products were blue/white (combines and seeders), Woodtech products were dark blue/light blue (frame saws), and Sports products were medium green (ski service machines). In addition, the corporate colors that had been adopted by WINTERSTEIGER were added: SKID = white/red, GRINDRITE = dark red, HEGE = red-orange, etc. This "multi-colored" presentation continued in communication media and a standardized Corporate Design was barely recognizable. This variety of colors led to high costs in production, for example due to constant conversions in the powder coating plant.

After a thorough analysis and tendering, Wels advertising agency Artindustrial was commissioned to carry out the relaunch in mid-2005.

This task included:

Further development of the WINTERSTEIGER logo
Creation of a claim for the WINTERSTEIGER umbrella brand
Development of a basic design including drafts and implementation of the new design for communication, information, and organizational resources, textiles, etc.
Development of an industrial design to standardize the color scheme for WINTERSTEIGER machines and products

The new "corporate color".

One of the biggest challenges was reducing the multi-colored palette of the products down to one standardized color, the corporate color. Following numerous brand workshops, the result was found to be: CMYK: 50% CYAN 100% YELLOW; PANTONE: 376 C / 382 U, RGB: 153/194/29, RAL Design: 1207070 – Fresh GREEN. The presentation of the new logo was received with enthusiasm.

The new claim.

The aim of the new claim "Thinking about tomorrow" is to embody the shared vision of the entire company and to relate to nature and sustainability. The business activities of all three divisions are centered around nature in general and the resources it provides. The claim was created as an ethical, moral, and corporate policy statement and was immediately met with approval.

The new machine design.

Creating the new, standardized product design proved difficult on the first try. The collaboration with the Linz School of Art had to be ended after a few months as the designs by the art students, led by a renowned Industrial Design Team, could not be implemented in practice and were too "artistic". In the end, a collaboration with Viennese industrial designer Dietmar Valentinitsch (Valentinitsch Design) provided the desired breakthrough and the approval needed for the complete redesign of all machines and products. Alongside green RAL Design 1207070, grey aluminum RAL 9007 and white aluminum RAL 9006 were also defined as additional product colors and the color weighting was implemented in a division- and product-specific manner with Valentinitsch Design.

A hectic schedule & major changes.

A timeline of just under a year was planned to finalize the new Corporate Design. The initial presentation for the Group and Division Sports took place at the Ispo trade show in Munich in February 2007, at the Ligna trade fair in Hanover for the Division Woodtech in May 2007, and at the end of 2007 for the Division Seedmech.

In detail, the following changes had to be made:

Change to the logo on all buildings, information boards, vehicles, packaging, etc.
New design for all print media such as letter paper, envelopes, visitor cards, pads, folders, manuals, etc.
New design for roughly 50 brochures in up to 10 languages
New production of work/trade show/casual clothing
New design for the website, trade show stands, presentations, advertising materials, and adverts

In addition, all WINTERSTEIGER products in the Technology & Production department – around 60 in total (!) – had to be redesigned according to the new color scheme, including product labeling/placement. On thousands of relevant parts, the color had to be changed and backed, and a decision had to be made as to whether the parts still in stock should be "repowdered" or disposed of.

All in all, the work has been more than worthwhile. Since 2007, WINTERSTEIGER has presented itself as a brand with a uniform Corporate Identity.