Claudia Crea is the president and CEO of Qual Chem LLC, which specializes in commercial cleaning products for car washes. Claudia and her husband, Sam, came to KURTZ in need of a corporate brand for their new eco-friendly home cleaning products, which Claudia formulated herself.

Her mission was to offer consumers a family- and pet-safe option free of harsh chemicals and scents, without sacrificing effectiveness.

Claudia’s background in chemistry was essential for the cleaners, but she needed help with branding: “Creating a new brand for our household cleaning products seemed a daunting task. We didn’t know where to begin!”

The household cleaning market is tremendously competitive, so we had to design a robust corporate identity to stand up to giant name brands. Claudia also needed a place to sell directly to consumers and promote her products to resellers.

Our process always starts with discovery conversations to align on objectives. During these talks, we learned what set Claudia’s products apart and how she wanted the world to perceive her brand. It also became clear how central her dogs, Balthazar and Brisco, are to these products. We made sure to honor them with the corporate brand name—B+B.

Once we had a strong understanding of Claudia’s vision, we dug into market research. We looked at consumer demand and how consumers interact with similar brands. With a strong grasp of Claudia’s vision and the marketplace, we applied our design process.

Brainstorming names, sketching logos, hatching brand identity ideas. Through deliberation, the strongest ideas won out, and a concept took shape. Still experimenting, we made those shapes tangible mock-ups. Then we evaluated. Are these designs aligned with Claudia’s objectives? Do they work from a design standpoint? Could they be improved?

Mock-ups in hand, we met with Claudia to look over the initial work. We truly partner with our clients, so Claudia’s feedback was essential to accomplishing our shared goals. With Claudia’s input, we gathered the KURTZ team for a group critique. With our collective critical eye, we broke down each design to ensure its strength and fidelity to Claudia’s vision.

For each product, we developed logos and packaging. We created modern names for each of B+B’s surface-specific cleaners and gave them an orthographic twist.

We handled the product and lifestyle photography and created a commercial. Using these materials, we constructed a fully functioning e-commerce website so Claudia can sell and promote B+B products. Finally, we made a B+B identity standards manual to help Claudia use her new material with the greatest effect.

B+B successfully launched on schedule, and a portion of every sale is donated to local animal shelters and charities in honor of Balthazar and Brisco.

Claudia writes, “KURTZ did everything for us, from helping with creating the brand identity to the website, e-commerce, and creating all the graphics, including a commercial and so much more! Working with James and his team was incredibly easy. Thank you, James and KURTZ, for the fantastic job and making it so effortless to launch a new vision.”