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Frank Lawlor Solves the Motorola Solutions Problem

By David Seliger - January 3, 2012

in Tech | Design Business

No one really seems to actually know what the vaguely named Motorola Solutions does, but Frank Lawlor is working to change that. As Global Brand Creative Director, Lawlor is taking Motorola Solutions from misunderstood anonymity to a company known for developing cutting-edge public safety and industrial communications... as well as bad-ass police cars.

Judging from Lawlor's case study, he had his work cut out for him when rebranding Motorola Solutions. The old identity was centered around cheesy, staged photographs that look culled from a stock images website, while the supporting graphics are more like sci-fi interpretations than reality.

The new collection of videos and photographs supporting the rebranded identity works quite well. Lawlor describes the goal as developing a "design language that tells a powerful story of a company that has been 'helping people in the moments that matter' for over 80 years." The working man/woman is the centerpiece of the campaign, focusing on real situations, not sexy ones. Likewise, communications and radios are not terribly sexy technologies, so it makes sense to play them up as the backbones of public safety departments.

As a bonus, Lawlor also includes this behind-the-scenes video on the photoshoots and filmmaking for the campaign:

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daniel erwin

12 years ago

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some of these look like results of observation of users, but i see in your comment that there was some marketing/advertising talent involved, too. Were you able to achieve both design research and branding goals in these efforts?
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Frank Lawlor

12 years ago

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Thanks for the great article. This was and continues to be such a rewarding project. No matter what business you're in, honest storytelling from the customer's point of view delivers results beyond imagination.

Changing the perception of an 80 year old brand wouldn't be possible without great designers and photographers like Siegel+Gale, DWJohnson Photography, Tom Maday and Eikon Creative. Visionary leaders like Eduardo Conrado, Gary Van Prooyen and tireless team members like Amy Petersen and Eric Rath helped make this a reality.
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