Stacking up against the big guys

Carolina Mats

Project Scope
Brand Strategy
Brand Identity
Print Design

The owner of Carolina Mats, a startup floor mat and towel rental service company, was a seasoned industry vet who wanted to offer restaurants and retail businesses in the Carolinas a local, service-oriented option to the large, impersonal, national corporations that had taken over the industry. A lack of competition due to there being fewer competitors was resulting in the quality of services offered to suffer, opening up a serious business opportunity. Although being smaller and offering more-personal service was their primary differentiating marketing counterpoint to their corporate competitors, Carolina Mats still needed to project the professionalism that their customers demanded.

We designed the identity for Carolina Mats to have slightly retro, yet still professional look, that harkened back to a time when service was not such a rare commodity. We then developed icons that quickly illustrated their primary services and could be used on their website and business papers. We applied the logo to the company’s fleet of vans in a large, bold fashion to make the trucks moving billboards for the company.

The identity had a short, but successful life, as Carolina Mats was quickly purchased by one of the national corporations that it was seeking to offer an alternative to.