Gregory Lombardi Design

THE SITUATION

Like many design firms and creative agencies, Gregory Lombardi Design (GLDI) carried its founder’s name. After 30 years of success, the brand needed to grow beyond the founding principal. New partners and lines of business were taking the company past its original focus on premium New England homes - and when the founder retires, the brand must survive.

OUR CONTRIBUTION

First we had to pin down what set Gregory Lombardi Design apart, so everything we did would reinforce it rather than erode it. We had long conversations with Greg about his origin story and his point of view. We talked with partners and employees about the culture and their growth ambitions. We asked clients and partner companies - architects, builders, interior designers - what it was like to work with GLDI. And we analyzed this rarified segment of the industry to uncover how GLDI did things differently. Together, these perspectives let us map the ecosystem and understand how everyone worked on a project. That revealed the client interactions where GLDI, as the landscape architect on the team, could build stronger connections and develop designs that held deep meaning for the family. It also ranked the success factors for growth beyond New England.

THE BENEFITS

Change is hard for founders when it feels like letting go of something they built. Our recommended name and tagline changes have not been fully adopted. The logotype, though, is now simply “Lombardi” - keeping the heritage, stepping back from the individual, and opening the door to a broader future.