Connection by Design, Made Visible
For Cooper Carry’s first identity refresh in 25 years, our in-house branding team set out to create a new brand designed around connection. The result is not only a logo refresh but an entire visual and verbal system that makes “Connection by Design” tangible across the firm.
"Connection by Design began as a positioning statement and tagline. Our challenge was translating it into a visual system people could see, feel and use," said Julie Young, Associate Principal and Director of Branding at Cooper Carry. “We wanted every element to have a purpose, from the interlocking forms of the logo to the colors, patterns and tools that bring the brand to life across the firm.”
A Visual Identity That Connects Past and Present
Cooper Carry's previous logo used disconnected geometry to represent connection, asking viewers to understand the idea conceptually and fill in the link themselves.
The new logo takes the opposite approach and makes connection visible. It is built from two interlocking, flowing Cs. The forms are distinct, but they connect and move through one another, creating a sense of relationship, exchange of ideas and movement. The two Cs also naturally reference Cooper and Carry, creating a mark that feels more dynamic and connected to the way the firm works today.
The iconic Cooper Carry yellow remains a central part of the identity, creating continuity with the firm's history. Around it, the team expanded the palette with colors inspired by the mid-century modern era when Cooper Carry was founded in 1960. The broader palette lets studios, projects and applications have their own personality while still feeling unmistakably Cooper Carry. It reflects the larger idea behind the rebrand: looking forward without losing the firm's history.
Old Logo
New Logo
Perhaps the most personal element of the new identity is The Founder's Hand, a bespoke typeface based on the handwriting of co-founder Jerry Cooper.
It creates a literal connection to the firm's founder, bringing something deeply personal into a contemporary identity system. At 96, Jerry still comes into the office and spends time with the firm's young designers. Now the handwriting that helped shape Cooper Carry appears alongside its newest work, a direct line between where the firm began and where it is going.
Perhaps the most personal element of the new identity is The Founder's Hand, a bespoke typeface based on the handwriting of co-founder Jerry Cooper.
It creates a literal connection to the firm's founder, bringing something deeply personal into a contemporary identity system. At 96, Jerry still comes into the office and spends time with the firm's young designers. Now the handwriting that helped shape Cooper Carry appears alongside its newest work, a direct line between where the firm began and where it is going.
Making the Brand Useful: The Yellow Book and the Inside Books
A brand only works if people can understand and share it. The Yellow Book, one of the most tangible expressions of the new system, answers a simple question: Who is Cooper Carry? It brings together the firm's history, story, positioning, elevator pitch and Connection by Design philosophy in one accessible tool for every employee.
The Inside Books extend that idea. While the Yellow Book tells the story of Cooper Carry as a whole, the Inside Books tell the stories of the individual studios: who they are, how they think, how they work and what makes each one distinct. This mattered because the new brand needed to create cohesion without flattening the personality of the firm's different disciplines and studios.
That idea of distinct but interconnected is central to the entire rebrand. It lives in the two Cs, separate forms that move through one another. It lives in a palette that gives each studio its own voice while staying rooted in Cooper Carry yellow. And it lives in a set of books that tell many stories under one identity.
"This wasn't a reinvention, but a more honest reflection of who we've become," said Kyle Reis, CEO of Cooper Carry. "Connection has always been the through-line in our work. Now our brand is built the same way we are: many disciplines under one identity, moving forward together.”
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