Paragon Sports Consulting
Branding + Art Direction + Web Design + UI/UX
Building a winning brand that meets the goal.
Founded by Colby Drost, Paragon Sports Consulting is a hockey consulting and player advising agency that kick-starts young athletes' careers: scouting, training, and placing them in the ideal NCAA college programs for their playstyles and abilities.
The client came to us in search of a rebrand with a view to company expansion — this rebrand would mark the first step in Paragon Sports Consulting's growth across North America, and a move away from its previous image as a small advising company run fully by Mr. Drost.
Audience Research
Interviews with Paragon’s clients (both players and their parents) and partnered coaches revealed that Paragon’s brand image was positive — both clients and partners cited absolute trust in Mr. Drost’s decisions and satisfaction with the services they had received (in clients’ cases) or being impressed by the talent they had been brought (in coaches’ cases).
However, both coaches and clients saw the business as a single-person enterprise run entirely by Mr. Drost, and some even stated that they would continue to work with the company only if Mr. Drost was clearly “in charge,” i.e. if he was mentoring any other future advisors at the company and his business ethos remained intact as the company expanded.
From these insights, we worked closely with Mr. Drost to ensure that his business goals and ethos were present throughout the Paragon rebrand, from copywriting to visual themes.
Logotype and Logo Design
For the new Paragon logotype, we decided to abbreviate the brand name to simply “Paragon” (as opposed to the previous PSC) for a more dramatic, sporting look and feel. The font chosen for Paragon’s rebranding, Sofachrome, timelessly embodies sports through the ages.
As for the logo itself, I designed a cut-out puck silhouette in Adobe Illustrator and imposed the Paragon “P” on it in mild italics, evoking speed and the dimensions of the puck itself. Both the logo and logotype are necessary elements of the rebranding — the logo suitable for Paragon’s hockey jerseys and social media icons (or watermarking posts), and the logotype suited for more formal instances where the brand’s full name is required.
Website Design
Hockey is a fast-paced, dynamic sport. In keeping with those attributes, we opted to use action shots of Paragon’s alumni and current clients on the ice throughout the site, as cinematic, full-screen background images to capture the attention of prospective clients while showcasing Paragon’s current roster.
Overall, the company’s new website introduces a more modern, sporty look and feel, while showcasing Paragon’s stellar track record, training process, and star athletes with prestige. Unlike other hockey advising companies, who mostly only showcase images or name-drop their biggest stars, Paragon showcases all its past and present alumni and their awards, and encourages them to tell their stories via the Testimonials page.