Sumitomo Chemical

I’ve collaborated with brand strategist Mary Olson for close to 15 years, currently through our shared company Brand Intelligence. Together we’ve worked for global corporations, government agencies, small business owners, and fintech startups, analyzing their existing brands, developing new brand strategies, writing video, social media and web content, and designing websites, logos, annual reports, and other collateral.

One of the clients we’ve worked on together is Sumitomo Chemical, a major Japanese chemical company operating worldwide in such diverse business categories as basic chemicals, petrochemicals & plastics, IT-related Chemicals, health & crop sciences, and pharmaceuticals. Sumitomo also has a long and remarkable history of CSR work. Since 2008 they’ve manufactured and distributed over 100 million malaria bednets in Africa, and in February, 2016 were recognized by Malaria No More for their commitment to helping end this deadly disease.

The work we’ve done for Sumitomo Chemical has been expansive, ranging from brand development to print and web design to copywriting and video production.

Brand development: I’ve overseen the application of Sumitomo’s existing brand to a wide range of products, including brochures, ads, packaging, logos, and websites.

Print design: I’ve designed technical and informational brochures for the company’s Olyset Net, Olyset Plus, and Sumilarv products, as well as a wide range of collateral such as advertising, calendars, and packaging prototypes.

Web design: I helped strategize and design responsive websites for multiple Sumitomo companies, including Sumitomo Chemical America, Sumitomo Chemical Europe, Sumichem, and Pace International. The site I designed for Pace, a leading provider of postharvest solutions, was the first by a Sumitomo company to include a business-to-business digital product catalog. We used WordPress as a platform for all of the sites, in some case working with our developer to build the sites from scratch, while in other cases using off-the-shelf themes.

Information Design: As part of an effort to clarify company IT security procedures I simplified and re-designed over 100 pages of guidelines.

Writing: I currently write the copy for bi-monthly social media posts for Sumitomo Chemical America, as well as for a monthly President’s letter to over 1,000 employees in the Americas. I also wrote all the copy for the SCA company website.

Video production: I wrote the script for, and art-directed, a four-minute video on the Zika virus that subsidiary Valent BioSciences produced as part of the company’s effort to promote their experience with vector control.

Photography: I art directed photographer Maggie Hallahan for an extensive photo shoot she undertook in Africa as part of Sumitomo Chemical’s Olyset Net campaign.

Additional work with Mary Olson can be found at our Brand Intelligence website.