Kelley Drye

Challenge

Described as 'a powerhouse firm with the heart of a boutique,’ Kelley Drye was founded in 1836 and is one of the oldest firms in the United States with more than 300 lawyers and other professionals practicing across eight offices.

Living’s challenge was to evolve the visual identity – leaving the firm’s logo untouched– and create a digital presence that paid respect to its past, represents the spirit of the firm today, and provides longevity to support future growth.

Solution

Following an in-depth discovery phase, which included interviews with clients, a series of interviews and workshops with Kelley Drye lawyers and business professionals, and a competitor review using our proprietary Living Ratings analysis, we defined the strategic pillars for our work.

Kelley Drye is distinct for its agility in both responding to client needs and proactively identifying potential issues and for the firm’s commitment to providing cutting-edge but practical solutions. 

The firm’s reputation for being agile, creative, savvy and caring – empathetic to the challenges clients face – would become the guiding principles for the brand evolution. At its foundation, the brand features a triangular grid derived from the shapes inherent in Kelley Drye’s logo, representing the multifaceted nature of the firm’s marquee practice areas.

This core graphic asset was then paired with clean typography, a bright but flexible colour palette and a proprietary image style with supporting icons that helps communicate the guiding principles.

With the Kelley Drye brand established, our team brought the digital expression to life through website user experience and interface designs, and we created each content module and page template for the firm’s developers to implement.

We then created tone of voice guidelines to help the firm write digital-ready content that is clear, impactful and succinct. The conversational yet professional tone in writing reflects clients’ views of Kelley Drye lawyers as responsive and accessible.

Result

Kelley Drye’s refreshed visual identity and new website have launched successfully, providing the firm with standout visibility in a crowded market. It’s a visual language that’s distinctive, flexible and above all, representative of a multifaceted and agile law firm with a rich history, well-positioned for the future.