For the last couple of years, we have been working hard on rebuilding Bowles & Wyer from the inside. It’s been an exciting time for us with lots of new faces joining the family.
But as well as looking at how the business works (real nuts and bolts stuff), we also got to thinking about why we do this – what gets us out of bed in the morning? What legacy are we trying to create? What is our purpose as a business? Landscapes are in our DNA – we design, plan, build, plant and tend them for private individuals, businesses and organisations. We’re convinced that landscapes have the power to enhance lives – and this is something we work hard to make happen every day, for all our clients. We also spent a long time talking about the ideals that drive the business, what’s important to us. We’re a diverse team, but we all share some important core values. Trust, excellence and creativity are the everyday metrics we use to measure our work. But these are much more than empty corporate values – engendering trust, demanding excellence and nurturing creativity are how we run our business and create value for our clients and for ourselves.
We’ve always been keen on working with others – we think that the secret of a great landscape is collaboration. As landscape architects, designers, engineers, builders, horticulturists, and gardeners we’re obsessed with sharing ideas, experiences and expertise. (We also all share the same office, which really helps).
So, having spent a lot of time thinking about the internal stuff, last autumn we started on a path of looking at how our clients saw us and how we could serve them better. What they told us was that as well as the exceptional quality of what we produce, they really valued the fact that we listen; we listen to what they say and act on it. We like that: listening is how we learn. That’s why we’re always tuning into our clients – discovering what they like, love and hope for. It’s why we spend time asking our industry about best practice and new ideas. And why we keep our own conversation alive with shared knowledge, experience and big thinking. We’re in this for the long term.
We’re proud of our 25-year plus heritage, but we’re always busy building the future. That means that we approach every new project as the start of a long relationship. And we design every landscape not just for the here and now, but for what happens next too. We wanted to apply the same thinking to our rebrand – it had to reflect who we were now, but be strong enough to last years into the future. After all, our last logo was designed in 1993!
We think that the broad brush stroke and the fine detail are equally important, so when we started to talk to design agency Carter Wong about our new identity, we were eager to see what they would come up with. The new look reflects the art of the landscape inherent in our work. It is a collaboration between Bowles & Wyer, Carter Wong and Artist Andy Lovell. Andy’s beautiful landscape prints are full of texture and feeling, so his work was a natural for us. We think that the new branding reflects the passion and artistry behind what we do. We also think it will cause quite a stir – keep a look out for our new vans. Although that won’t be difficult – they’re hard to miss!
July 19, 2019
