Sharp Office
Helping your business grow
The 1970’s; calculators were the size of cars and cars were the size of houses. Newcastle lads John Duncan and Robin Carney joined forces to start a business that would soon become Sharp Office. Starting out with only electronic calculators, the range evolved to include photocopiers, fax machines and cash registers.
50 years later, Sharp had continued to evolve it’s service offering to include Point of Sale systems, servicing and office needs. As the technology become smoother, more dynamic and a fraction of the size, Sharp Office got in touch with the team at OOTS to do the same for their brand strategy and visual identity, minus the shrinking bit.
To inform the coming 50 years, the team revisited the previous 50. The Sharp business had steadily evolved and now was the perfect time to unite the different divisions under one name. The purpose was so everyone, internally and externally could experience a unified brand for Sharp Office.
Led by a new unified purpose of Solve the Unsolvable, the OOTS team created a bold new design system to deliver this vision. Angular and bold design elements fulfilled the vision of a progressive and unified organisation. A simple, yet clever reversed-out pencil was introduced within the logo, while the red and blue remained as a nod to the heritage of the brand.
Relationships and people are at the heart of what Sharp Office does, and we wanted to show it. We produced a series of videos showcasing the people who have made it what it is today. From this we produced a three-part series tracking the evolution of the business over the decades.
The OOTS production team captured a historical video documenting the past, the formative years, the shifts through time, and the technological transformations that have set the company up for a strong future. The video was brought to life with interviews from key staff and a strong collection of historical photography.
With a visual style as sharp as their name and a rock-solid strategy, Sharp Office are taking on the next 50 years in style. We rolled out everything from building signage to a new website, vehicles, and staff uniforms. The interface for the new website needed to reflect the new brand of being problem solvers. OOTS User Experience and Digital Design teams collaborated to create a user friendly and intuitive website. This rebrand establishes Sharp Office as not only the partners to solve problems today, but ready to tackle tomorrow’s as well. Onwards and upwards!
