Blueridge Carpet Rebrand + Showroom Design

Blue Ridge Commercial Carpet retained Grant Design Collaborative for the comprehensive redevelopment of the 30-year old company’s relatively obscure brand. The mission was to reposition the company as a major supplier of well-designed floor coverings to commercial interior designers and architects. Our challenge was to create a distinctive brand that had “designer” appeal while stressing the product’s value, availability and cultural integrity. We felt strongly the new brand had to be built from the “inside out” in order to create ownership and accountability throughout the organization. Prior to repositioning, Blue Ridge’s primary focused on the institutional and education markets. Therefore, the employees had no grasp of design and its impact on both business and humanity. We began the program by converting the factory’s preexisting vending area into a multipurpose space to celebrate design, corporate camaraderie and business growth. The low budget renovation of this space was heralded in an article by Interior Design entitled “Habitat for Humanity,” and the associated publicity served as the design community’s introduction to the Blue Ridge brand. The company’s unique Appalachian heritage was also positioned as a crucial component in the branding program. The comprehensive corporate design program allowed us to demonstrate its cross discipline approach to design as the program included a new identity, brand strategy and messaging, collateral, promotional items, website and the interior design of the company’s Chicago showroom which garnered the International Interior Design Association’s (IIDA) Creative Excellence Award.