Background

ATA is a precision engineering manufacturer and supplier that produces components for industrial tools used in shipbuilding, car manufacturing and the airline industry. The company is almost 60 years old and has grown significantly in the past 15 years, primarily through acquisition. ATA operates in 10 countries, has 400 staff members, and sells to 90 countries worldwide. In 2021, ATA began implementing a new strategy to streamline the company and simplify its operations to position it for the future and further growth.

As part of that process, ATA realised that their corporate brand required a strong identity with clearly defined values, purpose, and personality to communicate consistently and cohesively across all stakeholders – internal and external. ATA commissioned Red Dog to lead a brand refresh programme, which we began by engaging key stakeholders across the organisation. This process involved interviews and workshops to define ATA’s values, purpose, personality, and brand narrative. The output of this brand strategy work underpinned the development of the new ATA brand identity.

The Idea

ATA are passionate about innovating and evolving to meet the next wave of precision engineering with the same commitment to premium quality that characterises its 60-year legacy. The innovation across the ATA product range was the spark that inspired our approach - precision processes such as cutting, turning, smoothing and rotating.

The Execution

The logo features a dynamic cut-out, representing precision engineering. The cut-out is a subtle and bespoke alteration that celebrates ATA and its product range by smoothing and subtracting the letterform. Micro product details are represented through a subtle typographic treatment in the logotype, and the visual language features geometric patterns inspired by the reflections on metal/movement of light on changing surfaces. Dynamic, evolving, industrial.

Turning to the colour palette, ATA felt that its existing use of blue had substantial brand equity, so we retained blue as the primary colour. We developed two core blues, supported by other vibrant colours inspired by the precision processes. These, in turn, form the basis of a series of gradients with a grainy texture to give them a distinctive industrial feel.