News >> Agencies Firm up Branding, Design Merger

Crain's Cleveland Business - August 20, 2007

Familiarity, it’s said, breeds contempt.

In the case of Nead Brand Partners, Newbomb Design and David Moss, it’s leading to a merger and the creation of a new Midtown branding and design firm, Boondock Walker.

Nead co-founder Mark Nead, Newbomb founder Brian Willsie and Mr. Moss, former director of the Future Center at the Cleveland Institute of Art, should have all the legal wrinkles ironed out by the end of September.

Nead Brand Partners, founded in 2000, has focused largely on business-to-business branding and counts insurers Progressive Corp. and Oswald Cos. among its clients. Newbomb, also around since 2000, works more in print collateral and publication design. The two firms have worked from the same office at 3635 Perkins Ave. in Cleveland since January.

“We were already working together and collaborating on a lot of projects, so it made sense to share the space,” Mr. Nead said. For some time, though, Mr. Willsie said, “We were casually thinking that this could be something else — something bigger.”

Enter Mr. Moss, who brings a strong digital media résumé to the table — his experience includes designing animation and interactive signs and kiosks — and the guys realized they had the makings of a triple play.

“When you get together, you can take on larger projects,” Mr. Moss said. “This is kind of the spirit of why we’re getting together.”

Though they’re planning to keep the agency’s employee roster small, the Boondock Walker founders are banking on the strength of their existing network of creatives.

“Really, we’re altering our model a little bit and building a network of partners and putting a strong team together for each client,” Mr. Nead said.

Mr. Moss added, “If we use the model of the network economy, we’re lean and mean and we can handle major projects, but we have that single point of (client) contact.”

The new shop’s offbeat name is drawn from a gadget Mr. Moss’ grandfather cobbled together to transport a fishing boat through the Canadian wilderness.