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Richard Foster is a plumber based in Melbourne, Australia, who advocates educating clients instead of billing them for repeat jobs.

He’d make more money fixing a burst pipe, that’s true, but he’d rather teach people how to keep their pipes from bursting in the first place. One of the most important parts of his work is teaching clients to prevent potential plumbing issues from becoming expensive disasters. He’s also keenly aware of issues that are common in specific geographic areas in Australia, and he is quick to point out how homeowners and businesses can protect their assets.

Richard sees aging pipes as an opportunity to educate, not as a pile of billable hours and dollar signs. He first met Kick Point President, Dana DiTomaso, at the Call-to-Action Conference in Vancouver in the fall of 2015. They had lunch together and discussed the importance of a service business having a strong visual identity. Richard wanted his visual identity to stand out among the crowded plumbing market in Melbourne — and it was important that his logo convey his emphasis on preventative maintenance.

Client Goal

To have a compelling visual identity that attracts potential clients and promotes Fix-It Right as the best plumber in their area.

Fix It Right Plumbing logo

Visual Identity

Fix-It Right’s original logo was a nondescript wordmark that did little to represent the brand or Richie’s values. To differentiate Fix-It Right from the competition, we wanted the new logo to convey the company’s most important value: preventing plumbing disasters.

Incorporating this powerful tagline into the Fix-It Right logo was a significant design choice, as it led to the development of the magnifying glass icon. This icon symbolizes how Fix-It Right carefully inspects each job they are called to because of their goal to detect and prevent future problems from occurring.

Fix It Right Plumbing logo with

Richard originally requested a badge-style look for his new logo, which directed how the magnifying glass icon and tag-line are presented in the final design. Because of the many different applications the logo would be used for (e.g. uniforms, a truck wrap, responsive website, etc.), and the range of sizes the logo needed to function at, we developed a robust logo system that included the badge logo, horizontal logos, and service-related icons. This ensured that no matter what the application was, Richard would have the right visual asset for the job.

“I feel confident moving forward with this design. I really like you taking the time to explain why you have done what you have done.”

— Richie Foster

We used the logo style to design the rest of the visual identity. Icons that replicated the minimal, friendly, and respectable look established by the magnifying glass were designed for each of the services Fix-It Right offers. Consistency across a visual identity is important, so all photographs used for the brand were styled in duotone using Fix-It Right’s brand colours. These elements function separately but can be combined when required, as seen here in the design for the truck wrap.

A selection of Fix it Right Plumbing's icons

Limitations

The theme that Richard chose to use for his website didn’t work for the icon set as we designed it, but the original iconography is still being used in other instances (such as on the truck wrap and in print collateral).

Reflections

Working in our very different time zones was something that we had identified as a potential risk, but meetings and approvals were a breeze with Richard — though there were a few surprise Google video hangouts that caught us all off-guard!