email@markapolooaCreative Professional Resume, CV, Senior Copywriter, ACD, Content Strategist
rebrand, advertising, writing, design, copy, writing
Client situation
Entrance Software is a software consulting firm that's one of the top 30 companies in Houston, Texas—and one of fastest-growing private companies in America, making the Inc. 5000 list.

Their services include consulting, software strategy, business intelligence, custom reporting, software modernization, and development. As a Microsoft® Gold Certified Partner, Entrance specializes in Microsoft technologies including Windows 8 migration and development, .NET®, SharePoint®, and SQL. As a Houston-based firm, their main industry focus is Oil & Gas.

Since its founding in 2003, Entrance has evolved from its development roots to a more strategic consulting role for its clients. To compete against much larger global firms in this space, Entrance management recognized the need to invest in creative marketing that could better communicate their professional services expertise.

print advertising campaign tradeshow
Creative solution
After receiving the assignment to redesign the Entrance logo and provide a brand strategy, I sat down to interview key management staff. One issue was the pronunciation of the name. The CEO preferred emphasis on the first syllable, as in "walking through a doorway." Others in the company reported some clients emphasized the second syllable, as in "to cast a trance."

Another priority was driven by Microsoft's upcoming Windows 8 operating system release. Windows 8 is an important business driver for Entrance since migration and modernization is a key service. Windows 8 also ushers in the most sweeping design change since 1995. The "Metro" User Interface (UI) is very modern and clean. Management didn't want to copy Metro, but wanted to reflect the clean style and the distinctive new look to communicate their important Microsoft partnership.

The final logomark takes all this into consideration. The word "entrance" is subtly divided into syllables with a graphic element that doubles as an arrow or directional pointer. The placement of the element encourages additional thought into the pronunciation to support increased retention and recall, but can be read as a call to action. The element is made up of seven smaller geometric elements that can be repositioned to form unique shapes, and this also ties into the Metro UI's use of shapes for navigation in Windows 8.

houston writer copywriter 77002 77006
creative marketing communications
creative marketing, copywriting, design