Our Services
Overdrive Design brings strategy, writing, design and digital production together to create brand identities, websites, illustration systems, animation, packaging, event branding and communications for organizations with complex stories to tell. Our work spans education, insurance, healthcare, museums and culture, recreation, retail, trades, and regulated services.
Where Strategy Meets Design
Let's step into Overdrive together, where we dare design to work as hard as it can. Established in 1986, we've seen the rise and fall of postmodernism, the triumph of Swiss type over Comic Sans, and the deep impact of UX/UI. We celebrate our theatre and print roots, and have embraced the ongoing rocket sled ride of digital innovation from day one. Our past provides perspective, while we comb the present for new inspiration, nurturing talent and continuing to balance the raw excitement of the bleeding edge with groundedness and experience. This approach empowers us to bring the best to your project.
01 Branding and Visual IdentityAmplify Your Story
Dialing Up the Affinity
For us, branding goes far beyond a logo. It is about creating a connection that turns a transaction into a relationship and gives people a reason to choose, trust and stay with a brand.
A 2018 Motista study, Leveraging the Value of Emotional Connection for Retailers, found that emotionally connected retail customers had a 306% higher lifetime value than customers who were merely satisfied. While not every brand is retail-oriented, the broader principle is compelling: emotional connection can strengthen loyalty and deepen the value of a brand over time.
That connection cannot be manufactured through surface-level design. We begin by understanding the essence of the brand—its values, vision, character and unique story—so that every creative decision, including experimentation, remains grounded in an authentic core identity.
The Steady Pulse of Trust
Consistency is not the same as standing still. It gives an audience familiar signals that make a brand easier to recognize, understand and trust. Research bears this out: a five-year study by System1 and the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising found that the most creatively consistent brands achieved 27% more substantial gains in how well people recognized and understood the brand, and 28% more substantial gains in sales, profit and market share.
That is why we don’t gamble with your brand. When evolution is called for, we identify what has earned recognition and loyalty, then map a path that brings your audience along rather than leaving them by the roadside. By balancing innovation with the right timing, genuine need and enduring relevance, we ensure that every part of the brand works together in a way that makes sense of its past, present and future.
Resonant Visuals
If we are doing our job right—and we are—your visual language will not only reflect your values and vision; it will be memorable. And we mean memorable in a good way.
In “Three Myths about What Customers Want,” published in the Harvard Business Review, a study of more than 7,000 consumers showed 64% of those who felt they had a relationship with a brand said shared values were the main reason. That is why we make sure your values are not simply stated, but expressed in ways your audience can recognize, understand and remember—creating a ripple of genuine “aha” moments.
02 Design Strategy and Brand SystemsMore Than Just Looks
Strategic Success
When the economy trends chilly, there's a tendency to want to batten the hatches and wait ’til spring. But there is cautious optimism on the wind. The McKinsey & Company’s 2018 report, The Business Value of Design Companies found companies that excel at design outperform their industry peers. Design-led companies recorded 32% revenue jump and a 56% boost in returns. With Overdrive, you'll find a lean team of outcome-focused creatives who'll work hard to keep you ahead of the curve.
Innovation that Makes Sense
While nurturing a brand requires continuous care and feeding, innovation should feel intuitive, not alien. When a brand is driven by both strategy and good design, it outshines its competitors because the innovation makes sense. Brands that prioritize user experience significantly boost their market presence. At Overdrive, we believe design aligns a brand with its purpose.
The Real Value of Design
Design at Overdrive is not just a pretty face. Research in multimedia learning, including decades of work by psychologist Richard E. Mayer, has repeatedly shown that relevant visuals, clear hierarchy and well-structured information can improve understanding and retention.
That is why we structure every message with care, use interactive and infographic elements where they genuinely help, and combine words and visuals so each reinforces the other. The goal is not decoration. It is to help your message cut through the noise, make sense and stick.
We are committed to creativity and quality—for us, for you and, heck, just to make the world a slightly better place.
03 Why Work with Overdrive?A Partnership for the Long Haul
Investing in Your Future
So you're ready to take the plunge, you're ready to invest in design for your new product or service, or refresh an existing brand. With Overdrive you'll find innovative solutions that always pass the human test; no matter how intriguing a new approach may be, it must have emotional resonance, not just tech novelty. Our goal isn’t to slow innovation. It’s to give it roots. We bring a rich design heritage to your project, merging your strengths with our forward-thinking strategies to give your brand leverage in the market.
Overdrive's Edge
Great design and implementation are table stakes at Overdrive. We're a lean studio where every team member has multiple skills, giving us a deep understanding of how each component of a project integrates into the bigger plan. From illustration to animation, UX/UI to copywriting, photoshop to photo selection, we have all the bases covered. On top of that, we believe in building relationships for the long haul. Just as you are making an investment in your visual branding, we make an investment in you.
Ready to shift gears?
Let's start a conversation. We'll help you navigate what you want, what you need and how to make it happen.
Our Services
Branding
Brand & Communication Systems
Brand strategy •Brand Audit • Brand Conviction • Information Architecture • Visual identity • Brand Guidelines • Infographics • Copywriting • Campaigns
Creating logos as part of broader visual identity systems has always been one of our core strengths. Not to brag, but we are very good at distilling the character of an organization into its most compact expression. A logo, though, is only one part of the brand.
We look at the bigger picture: your story, values, ambitions, audiences and competitive context. From there, we create a visual identity that feels unmistakably yours and fits like an impeccably sewn bespoke glove. Never off the shelf. Always custom.
Brand expression is where that identity begins to live: through typography, colour, imagery, illustration, tone of voice, campaigns and the many details that shape how a brand is experienced. Brand standards are the practical insurance policy for that investment, giving internal teams, partners and suppliers the guidance they need to use the system consistently across print, digital and everyday communications.
Having an in-house copywriter means strategy, language and design develop together, with fewer handoffs and stronger alignment. We can build messaging and copy from the ground up or refine what you already have, from brand narratives and campaign concepts to headlines, edits and the all-important second set of eyes.
Want to see our branding magic in action? Check out this project here.
Our Services
Interactive
Digital & Interactive Experiences
Website strategy and design • Interactive installations design & build • UX/UI • Development • Accessibility • Interactive learning systems and modules • Technical optimization • Interactive tools • Ongoing digital stewardship • Museum installations • Application design and build
User experience may be our playground, but we take it very seriously. Anyone who has lost their way deep inside a website, or reached step seven of an eight-step form only to be sent back to the beginning, understands why good UX/UI matters.
We design digital experiences that do more than look good. They are thoughtfully structured, intuitive to navigate and responsive to the way people actually behave. From websites and complex information systems to touchscreens and interactive installations, we make sure every click, swipe and tap feels natural — helping users find what they need, understand what they are seeing and move forward with confidence.
1. New websites and digital platforms
Explore the website we designed and built for Columbia International College.
2. Website improvement and digital stewardship
A website should keep evolving after launch. We help organizations protect and improve existing sites through UX refinements, accessibility updates, technical SEO, performance improvements, content changes and new functionality.
The goal is to keep the site useful, current and aligned with the brand—while addressing small issues before they become reasons for a full rebuild. Interested in an audit? We’re willing and able.
3. Interactive tools and experiences
See how we designed two 80-inch multi-touch installations for the ROM Gallery of Modern Design.
Experience the interactive experience of MADD SmartWheels.
Want to see our interactive magic in action? Check out this project here.
Our Services
Events
Bringing brands into the physical world through events, spaces and products.
Events and Brand Environments
Conference identities • Signage • Wayfinding • Exhibitions • Trade shows • Sponsorship materials • Branded spaces • Pop up design and Build
Events are more than dates on a calendar. Every detail, from the grand gesture to the smallest touchpoint, contributes to the experience. We begin by understanding your brand, audience and ambitions, then translate them into a cohesive environment—whether it is a conference, exhibition, product launch or very good shindig. From identity and sponsorship materials to signage, wayfinding and environmental graphics, the goal is an experience that feels memorable and unmistakably on-brand.
Packaging and Retail Expression
Packaging systems • Labels • Product families • Retail applications • Production-aware design
Packaging has an equally demanding job to do. It must identify the brand and product, communicate what matters, meet legal and production requirements, and still earn attention on a crowded shelf. We work through the practical realities—format, materials, manufacturing costs, sustainability and scalability—while creating a clear hierarchy that helps customers understand the product quickly.
Then comes the special sauce: the distinctive idea, illustration, structure or detail that makes the packaging feel ownable, gives it shelf presence and helps move it from consideration to the cash register.
See our packaging for Cherry Birch General.
Want to see our events magic in action? Check out this project here.
Our Services
Storytelling
Illustration and Animation
Custom Illustration • Custom Iconography
Illustration can capture the essence of a moment, idea or story in ways photography cannot. It can make complex concepts easier to understand, express emotion and metaphor more freely, and depict things that do not yet exist—or could never exist at all.
Custom illustration can also become an ownable part of a brand’s visual language, creating a distinctive look that stock imagery cannot replicate. Our team includes skilled illustrators who can develop everything from expressive campaign artwork to icon systems, diagrams and infographics. Digital tools may shape the process, but the thinking, drawing and judgement remain human.
Animation• Explainer Videos • Social Media AnimationAnimation Asset Libraries • Animation Guidelines • Photography and Live Video
Animation brings that visual language to life. Logos, typography, icons, illustrations and data can all gain energy, clarity and emotional impact through motion. It is especially effective in explainer content and infographics, where movement can guide attention, reveal information in sequence and make complex ideas easier to follow.
At its best, motion does more than decorate. It creates rhythm, sets tone and gives brands the freedom to tell stories in ways the physical world does not allow.
Want to see our storytelling magic in action? Check out this project here.