The Sharpsmart Rebrand

An insight into Sharpsmart's Rebrand, June 2016 

"Established in 1986 by entrepreneur Dan Daniels, who set out to develop a safer sharps container to eliminate needlestick injuries and combat infection transfer, Sharpsmart has grown to become a globally renowned service provider to the healthcare industry.” 30+ years after its inception, multiple acquisitions, rapid broadening of services, product and talent, and deployment into other synergistic opportunities, the company had to stand back to ask ‘who are we’? Sharpsmart was founded from a deep reservoir of vision, entrepreneurialism, and industry disruption…. But now the brand and purpose was being diffused by a sense of “predictable” and “normal.” Where was the cutting edge, was Sharpsmart still at the forefront of innovation? Did the brand reflect our values and vision? 

The answer to all of these questions was a deep and reluctant ‘no’.
 

"At our core we were innovative, but our aging brand did not reflect this; in our company-wide focus and aspirations we were human-centered, but in our use of images we were detached and clinical; in our vision we were aspirational and deeply intentional, but in our corporate messaging we were robotic and uninspired. We decided at this conjecture that we were not “another clinical waste company,” we were determined to remain disruptors, we held a visionary set of ideals, and we wanted our values to be reflected in our branding."  

Laura Wakelam, Chief Marketing Officer

Being a long-established company, the rebrand confronted the challenge of being “new” but equally “familiar.” In other words, how to modernise and disrupt while paying homage to our roots. The new Sharpsmart brand was curated to achieve both ends – honouring the past while paving the way for the future. The logo was changed to render softer angles, including a friendlier shaped ‘i’ which was subtly incorporated to represent human centred-ness, and a strong gradient colour which represented the command and innovation of the brand while introducing a modern and contemporary aesthetic. 

To accompany the logo, an intriguing geometric pattern was introduced to invite dimension to the brand. The interplay of hues in the pattern, introduced a range of tertiary colours into the brand palette to render greater fluidity to the brand’s interpretation. Collectively, these elements assembled, create a very strong, distinctive and fluid brand.   

The new Sharpsmart brand has been rolled out globally across a variety of mediums, including brochures, digital campaigns, website, uniforms, building signage, trade show displays and promotional items. It has inspired a change of thought, language, and resonance with the Sharpsmart approach and purpose (both internally and externally) and has offered a roadmap to explore our corporate identity in a more creative form.

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