PROJECT: GDCA, Inc.
Created to Stand Among Giants
ENGAGEMENT Retained relationship, 2007–present
SCOPE: Brand Identity · Website Design + Development · Marketing Automation + CRM Integration · Print + Display · Presentations + Documents · Email · Illustration + Video
The Challenge
GDCA is a unique business. It keeps discontinued embedded computer boards available, so critical systems for some of the world’s largest manufacturers, defense programs, and industrial operators stay in service. Its brand has to stand beside global industry leaders and earn trust without trying too hard. The old logo wasn’t up to the task. Its audience is seasoned executives, program managers, and engineers who make careful decisions and distrust polish for its own sake.
The Approach
I started with the audience and the landscape around it, studying how industry leaders, OEMs, end users, and defense contractors present themselves. Of several directions, one met every requirement at once: the Tracer Ball. circuit traces wrapped around a sphere say “computer boards” and “global” in a single mark.
- The 3D treatment reads as a globe, but the mark reduces cleanly to a flat icon that works at favicon size and in one color.
- The traces angle upward, like lines on a growth chart.
- Oblique letterforms in a modified Geogrotesque suggest forward motion, balancing strength with elegance.
The wider system follows the same logic: greens anchored by a contrasting blue, a highlighter yellow familiar from every engineer’s desk, and typography that reads as confident rather than decorative.
The Result
Introduced in 2007, the brand has been in continuous use for nearly two decades, with every visual expression directed by one hand. It has been refreshed regularly without losing recognition, and it stays credible to the people GDCA serves. Across website generations, conference floors, and executive presentations, it presents GDCA as what it is: a dependable partner for systems that can’t afford to fail.
“Shannon has taken GDCA through multiple generations of our website and helped us pull together effective, engaging presentations and marketing materials. He is someone I can hand a half-formed idea to and trust to turn it into something that actually works. He doesn’t just make things look good. He helps you figure out what you are trying to say and then finds a way to make it visual.”
Dena Plotkin, COO, GDCA
Beyond the Brand
Website built on WordPress, where function matters as much as form.
- A searchable product database built on custom post types and taxonomies
- An interactive risk assessment that calculates obsolescence risk and delivers results as a web page and PDF, each with a graphic risk meter
- Form integrations with ActiveCampaign marketing automation and Zoho CRM
- Email design and builds for Mailchimp and ActiveCampaign
Consistent by Design
Every visual expression of the GDCA brand since the Tracer Ball’s introduction has come from the same hand: from conference displays and executive presentations to print, email, swag, illustration, and video. The system is refreshed regularly to stay current, but it never drifts. Wherever GDCA’s audience encounters it, the brand looks and feels like itself.
“Our brand was designed with a clear understanding of who we serve: the engineers and program managers who trust us with critical systems. That focus has made it a real asset in every customer conversation.”
Ethan Plotkin, CEO, GDCA
Need a brand that holds its own in the room?