Sinewave Ventures: Bridging Private and Public Sectors

The Challenge: Creating an Iconic Brand Mark

SineWave Ventures is a venture capital company that invests alongside the industry’s top venture capital firms in startups where the firm can add value in bridging the private-public sector divide.

They help companies that are looking to provide a service or technology to public sector clients OR need to navigate the public sector for key strategic reasons (seeking non-dilutive financing, managing political and regulatory risk, etc.).

Sinewave Ventures can participate at multiple stages of growth, but early engagement is most effective. Their investments must target a private sector customer base first and foremost. They invest in companies where a government vertical or the ability to navigate the government is not the sole focus of the business strategy. Ultimately, they are looking to work with the most promising entrepreneurs to help them build scalable, successful companies with the greatest impact possible.

To help them with their vision and marketing strategy, the client came to Spellbrand.

This challenge requires:

• Bridge concept: Visual representation of private-public sector bridge
• Iconic design: Clean symbol for smaller, standardized image sizes
• DC and Silicon Valley: Represent both markets visually
• Professional appeal: Modern, professional, subliminally patriotic

Brand Identity: Golden Gate Bridge and Capitol Hill

Brand Identity: The client’s previous logo, which is a SineWave curve with pictures of DC and Silicon Valley under each arc respectively. The client wanted to stick with that idea, and for a number of the concepts to be in a similar red, white and blue pattern (without overly patriotic tones). They were looking for a clean symbol that can be displayed where smaller, standardized image size icons are preferable to the long-form as well.

For imagery representing DC and Silicon Valley, the Capitol Building and Golden Gate Bridge were identified to be ideal.

The current logo was too long horizontally and did not have an iconic look and feel to it. Furthermore, the Hill and the Valley concept is not clear. We created a series of iconic designs based on the Golden Gate Bridge and the Capitol Hill building. With refinement and tweaking, we finally arrived at a design that showed the two landmark icons in a simple and contrasting way separated by the Sinewave.

The result is a brand mark that looks modern, professional, and subliminally patriotic.

This design approach works because:

• Iconic landmarks: Golden Gate Bridge and Capitol Hill represent both markets
• Sinewave separation: Visual bridge between private and public sectors
• Simple contrast: Two landmarks shown in contrasting way
• Modern and professional: Clean, iconic design
• Subliminal patriotism: Red, white, blue without being overly patriotic
• Versatile symbol: Works in smaller, standardized image sizes

Brand Strategy: Strong and Confident

As you can see in the branding shown on this page, this design and the colors are used effectively to establish a consistent look and feel while making sure the brand looks strong and confident. When creating brand identities, it is important to consider layout and composition that use contrast to appear strong.

This strategy works because:

• Consistent look: Design and colors establish cohesive identity
• Strong appearance: Brand looks strong and confident
• Contrast use: Layout and composition use contrast effectively
• Professional positioning: Modern, professional brand mark

Results: A Brand That Bridges Sectors

The brand identity we created for Sinewave Ventures successfully communicates their unique value proposition of bridging the private-public sector divide. The iconic logo design with Golden Gate Bridge and Capitol Hill separated by a Sinewave creates a modern, professional, and subliminally patriotic brand mark that works across all applications, from small standardized icons to full brand identity systems.

Today, Sinewave Ventures uses this brand identity to attract startups that need help navigating the public sector, positioning them as a venture capital company that invests alongside top VC firms in startups where they can add value in bridging the private-public sector divide, helping companies build scalable, successful businesses with the greatest impact possible.