How to translate past experience into inspiration for the future?

Creating a private equity brand that’s anything but typical.

When Weathervane came to us, they were a young firm, founded less than a year prior. But that’s not to say inexperienced. Their executive team had decades of experience not just investing in successful companies, but building them.

A rare private equity company with lived entrepreneurial experience, Weathervane enlisted us to help build their new brand and tell their story as a not-so-typical investment firm with real skin in the game.

Entrepreneurial Roots

Weathervane’s story begins in a humble family-owned insurance brokerage in the city of Delta, BC: Westland Insurance. Westland, under the leadership of brothers Jason and Matt Wubs, would go on to become one of the largest and most beloved independent brokerages in Canada.

After almost three decades at Westland, the Wubs brothers wanted to apply their experience to mid-market businesses with the

kind of growth opportunities Westland had when they took it over.

Matt, spearheading a new investment endeavour, would be joined by two key executive partners: Kellie Manchester, co-founder of one of Canada’s largest independent investment boutiques, Sequeira Partners; and Geoff McKay, bringing decades of experience at elite private equity firms in New York and Toronto. With the core executive team in place, Weathervane was born.

Experienced, ambitious and definitely not pretentious

During the initial discovery phase of our design process, stakeholder interviews consistently revealed two key insights about the core Weathervane team. First, they were human, down-to-earth, collaborative people: certainly not your typical marble lobby pretentious private equity folks. Second, they loved basketball.

While the average private equity firm tends to be draped in finance jargon and expensive watches, these guys really were team players: collaborative, hard-working, and hungry for the collective win.

Most importantly, there was an overarching emphasis on “We.” We want to bring energy to businesses, their people and communities. We want to help businesses win.

Building Weathervane’s strategy, then, we focused on Weathervane’s unselfish ambition and deep collaborative spirit, applying learnings from decades of lived entrepreneurial experience—a rarity in their category. In keeping with their role as collaborators, not just investors, we landed on a core anchoring phrase: “More than just capital.”

Speaking up

With Weathervane’s strategic core in place, we developed a voice that bridged their credentials as highly accomplished entrepreneurs and investors, with a personable, energetic tone.

The task was twofold: Creating a voice that allowed for just enough standard finance jargon,

while leaving room to incorporate a more lively tone through less conventional diction and phrasing.

The tagline embodied this verbal approach: “Making it possible.” Brand-conscious readers might notice a nod to Nike’s “Just do it.” That was not accidental. We wanted something that conveyed some energy, reserve, and ambition—and the subtle sporty vibe wasn’t unwelcome either.

Looking the part

Developing Weathervane’s visual expression, we went with a best-of-both-worlds approach, balancing their extensive professional expertise and unconventional tenacity through a colour palette mixing standard shades of cool blue and a vibrant yellow.

For the brand identity, we opted for a contemporary sans-serif wordmark paired with a logo based on the “W.”

While single-letter logos are a mainstay in the finance category, we chose a less traditional, minimal approach with swooping lines and sharp angles, evoking simplicity and parallel forward momentum.

Finally, photographic direction took a natural turn for the bold and dramatic with high-contrast black-and-white photography. Again, think Nike, but with more suits.