Advanced Staging Technologies in Orlando, Florida had been in business for nearly 20 years designing and building sets for touring productions, themed environments for amusement parks or trade shows and exhibits for museums when they decided to focus more exclusively on the museum sector because of the appreciation that market has for quality craftsmanship.

When the owners of the company came to me, they explained that what they really do is to help tell stories, and that they needed to update their brand to reflect that. Their existing logo and website had been created more as an afterthought some 20 years ago than as a meaningful representation of the company. Basically, they had spent the last two decades telling stories, but in the process, they had neglected to tell their own, so we set about the business of doing just that.

We started with a new name that declared their market focus, and a tag line that clearly communicated their mission. Next, I began to research symbols that would speak directly to their target demographic of (mostly female) historians with post graduate degrees in library sciences, history and literature with 20 or more years of experience in museum work. 

The astrolabe stood out at the strongest symbol to represent the newly-named AST Exhibits. Regarded as an early computer with at least 1000 known applications, it has a history of active use that spans more than 2000 years across nearly every continent. Astrolabes were not limited to any one social class or age group; they were fashioned out of a wide range of materials from paper all the way to precious metals, with the most ornate specimens being regarded as works of art as well as tools of technology. As such, the astrolabe is an excellent representation of the broad range of skills AST Exhibits brings to their work as master craftsmen and skilled designers, and it also speaks directly to their work with historians in the museum industry as an artifact with which many of them will be familiar. Additionally, the presence of a triangle in the mark represents stability, creativity and the triadic relationship of past, present and future as AST Exhibits' promise to their clientele. 

Rather than a standard-sized business card, we opted for a slim cut card that doubles as a bookmark to further assert AST's expertise in storytelling, and many elements of the new brand display a quote from Rudyard Kipling that proclaims, "If history were taught in the form of stories, it would never be forgotten." 

The first press run of AST's new letterhead contains a letter to current and prospective clients announcing the new brand and inviting them to visit the new website and get in touch with feedback. These were delivered along with a business card and a branded blank journal as an invitation to start working on a new chapter in their story with AST Exhibits.

AST began in the 90s with young, energetic leadership that was eager to embrace emerging technological advances of the day (the personal computer and 3D rendering software, specifically) as a means of achieving a higher quality result in less time through better planning upfront. To demonstrate a continued commitment to emerging technology, we created a responsive website that adjusts its layout based on the viewing device of the user:

New social media skins and badges served as the finishing touches for this well-received rebrand of AST Exhibits.