Versa Gripps was a family-owned business in Sorrento, Maine, that made a seriously strong impact on the world of working out—they’re the inventors of weightlifting straps that are considered the best in the industry by professional bodybuilders and competitive weightlifters.
When we met them, Versa Gripps had been in business for almost 20 years with a tried and true logo and a penchant for red, white, and blue. However, as we began to consider a migration from their DIY Weebly website, it quickly became clear that in order to maintain their supremacy in the market, a brand refresh and expansion was necessary.
We kicked off our refresh process by digging into their history, their product line, and the impact those products have on their loyal customers. We modernized their existing logo and developed a logo system that included thoughtful and strategic variations with their symbol, wordmark, tagline, “Made in the USA” messaging, and "Authentic Dealer" branding. With this, they now have the flexibility to vary their collateral while remaining cohesive and clear. We expanded this to include a set color palette and defined typographic standards as well as fresh patterns—all inspired by high performance, movement, speed, strength, and balance.
This was an exercise in evolution—honoring the past while positioning Versa Gripps up for the future. Working from an extremely limited set of established assets, we were able to present Versa Gripps with a fully functional expanded brand system, setting them up for decades more of success.
No idea was too big, and they were able to run with everything. First Pier has always been in our corner — anytime we had an issue and asked if there was a solution, they were always able to find something that'd be a good fit.
Katelyn & Isaac Bray, COO & IT Coordinator — Versa Gripps USA
Versa Gripps invented the category, and the brand had almost nothing to show for it.
Two decades in, the assets amounted to a logo and a preference for red, white and blue. That is a common position for a manufacturer whose product was good enough that it never needed marketing to work — and it becomes a liability the moment the market widens past the professionals who already know who you are.
The brief was expansion, not replacement. Competitive weightlifters and bodybuilders treat these straps as the standard; erasing the marks they recognise in order to chase a general fitness audience would have traded a real asset for a fashionable one.
So we built outward from what existed. The logo was modernised rather than redrawn, then turned into a system — symbol, wordmark, tagline, Made in the USA, Authentic Dealer — so the brand could speak differently to a retailer, a distributor and a lifter without becoming three brands. Colour, type and pattern were derived from qualities the product actually has: speed, strength, balance.
Working from a limited set of established assets is harder than starting clean, and it is almost always the right constraint. The equity tends to sit in the parts a founder never thought of as design.
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