BNO Branding,
Social Media,
and Culture
Building a brand from the inside out.
BNO is a scrappy 40-person agency in New Jersey, which means it can be pretty easy to miss if you’re not looking for it. But there’s a lot of talent, heart, and very good weirdness packed into a relatively small place.
When I joined ranks in 2020, the agency had never formalized a brand guide, and had just built its first culture initiative. There was a lot of room to grow and explore.
With the help of my Creative Director, John Shanley, I built company’s first brand document. It had all the bells and whistles — a brand palette, typographic rules, an asset library, and a lot more. This became the standard for the agency, and helped us to create brand harmony with freelancers and stakeholders. With some guardrails in place, we were able to create everything from pitch decks to UGC, onboarding docs, and more.
Then, in 2021, I became the agency’s Culture Chairwoman and decided to have an almost criminal amount of fun with it. Alongside Trista Walker and Faith Earl, we launched a Mental Health and Wellness initiative for 2023, planned company picnics and monthly events, and used the annual holiday card as a creative sandbox. This meant a christmas cookie microsite, a comic, cards of Agency Insanity… you get the idea.
I have loved making the work. But more than that, I loved getting to make the agency more thoughtful, more fun, and more BNO.
Copywriter + Culture Co-Chair: Faith Earl
CEO + Culture Sponsor: Trista Walker
Creative Directors: John Shanley, Kelly Dress, Bryon Lomas, George Jackus
Designers: Daniel Grushecky, Miranda Pokras, Christine Dorobiala