City of Waterloo

The Challenge The City of Waterloo is gaining momentum, recruiting businesses, redeveloping its downtown, and leading in technology and infrastructure investments. But the city suffers from a perception problem driven by decades-old economic and social issues, and a small but vocal group was controlling the narrative. Many residents are unaware of all the positive work […]
The Lester Buresh Center

The Lester Buresh Center The Challenge For years, the City of Mount Vernon dreamt of building a community center that could host everything from children’s sports to senior coffee groups. After decades of planning, the city was finally ready to bring their vision to life. That’s when they turned to de Novo for help branding, […]
BioConnect Iowa

BioConnect Iowa The Challenge The Iowa Innovation Council has long been an important resource for bioscience innovators hoping to get new business ideas off the ground. Their mission is simple—connect Iowa’s brightest thinkers to the funding, mentorship and supports they need to successfully launch their ventures. But a generic name and poor brand recognition led […]
Rally CAP

Cedar Rapids Metro Economic Alliance The Challenge The COVID-19 Pandemic forced many local businesses to close, cut back hours or change the way they traditionally conducted business. Stay at home recommendations also meant that many consumers were not visiting local shops. In a sentence? Business was HURTING. Industry The Work Our Approach Our approach was […]
IntelliSee

IntelliSee The Challenge When de Novo first met with the brains behind IntelliSee (a company that uses artificial intelligence to visually detect threats to human safety), the startup had cool tech, limitless potential and the ambition to match. But their first product was still in development. And they had no brand, logo or identity to […]
North Liberty

The City of North Liberty The Challenge In the last 20 years the population of North Liberty has skyrocketed, bringing change and opportunity to the small, tight-knit community. To better reflect the city as it stands today—and where it’s heading—the city of North Liberty decided it was finally time to refresh their brand. Industry The […]
Brucemore

Brucemore The Challenge Preserving a single historic structure is no easy feat. Now add six more outbuildings and 26-acres of painstakingly manicured landscape to the mix, and you’re in for a hell of a ride. Just ask Brucemore, the historic gem of Cedar Rapids. Although plans were made to sustain it in the 1980s, the […]
Experience Waterloo

Experience Waterloo The Challenge In 2017, a change of leadership brought a new vision, ideas and life to the Waterloo Convention and Visitors Bureau. The organization was backing away from a more traditional approach to destination marketing centered around promoting events and attractions. Instead, they were moving towards something fresher: destination MAKING. In other words, […]