AK Building Services

Challenge: Honoring the Legacy and Scaling for the Future

AK Building Services, a Florida-based commercial cleaning provider, has been serving a wide range of facilities since its inception in 1973. Founded as Action Kleen Systems, the company has evolved from humble garbage cleaning and vacuuming to full-scale building maintenance. With over 500 employees servicing 400+ locations, AK Building Services faced the challenge of creating a brand system that respected its past while allowing for future growth.

Solution: Leveraging Trust and Humanity

To address the challenge, Culminator leveraged the core values of the AK family and the importance of trust in the cleaning industry. With the anchor statement of “helping you shine,” AK Building Services emphasized its commitment to creating clean, safe, and organized environments that enable everyone to thrive.

Visual Style: Combining Tradition and Modernity

The reimagined visual style of AK Building Services preserved the 25-year-old mark while incorporating modern elements. By updating the typography to the sans-serif typeface Montserrat, the brand achieved a clean and structured yet friendly appearance.

Brand System: Reflecting Cleaning Tools and Professionalism

The brand system revolved around the wordmark and circular “AK” stamp, which echoed the shape of tools used in the cleaning industry. This circular shape served a dual purpose, visually representing the act of cleaning by removing a green-to-blue brand gradient and acting as a container for highlighting the people associated with clean facilities, including staff, clients, and patrons.

Collaboration and RFP Assets

Culminator collaborated closely with Vice President Shari Cedar to develop a library of Request for Proposal assets. These assets played a crucial role in expediting the process of winning six-figure contracts with local businesses, such as Cleveland Clinic and Broward Health. The RFP assets not only showcased AK’s commitment to diversity, ethical practices, quality controls, and conflict resolution protocols but also revealed the company’s rigorous hiring practices and innovative staffing technology.

Comprehensive Brand Support

In addition to creating a wide range of brand collateral, including the website, promotional assets, social media strategies, apparel, and signage, Culminator remained on retainer to provide ongoing support for AK’s strategy, marketing, and design needs.

Empowering People and Fostering Safety

The messaging strategy focused on empowering individuals in the workplace and emphasizing the responsibility of facility managers in creating safe environments where staff and patrons can shine their best. By centering the messaging around the people AK serves, the company differentiated itself from competitors driven solely by metrics. AK positioned itself as a pioneer in the commercial cleaning industry, prioritizing empathy, dependability, and efficiency.

Photography: Inspiring and Professional

Photography played a vital role in communicating AK Building Services’ offerings. The clean, upbeat photos of business owners, medical staff, and office employees captured the essence of the brand while preserving professionalism. These photos showcased the value that AK’s services bring to facility owners, emphasizing the company’s dedication to helping facilities prosper. Contracted photographer James Jackman skillfully captured the authentic and disarming moments of the people who work in the field every day.

A Resilient Future and Safety-Focused Facilities

After a challenging year providing pandemic-specific disinfection services, AK Building Services continues to help all types of facilities present their best spaces. The refreshed brand identity positions AK to scale its vision to a wider audience of safety-focused facilities, providing a scalable system for a successful future.

Client
AK Building Services

Sector
Commercial Cleaning

Discipline
Brand Identity
Digital Design
Apparel
Photography
Web Design
Graphic Design
App Development
UX Design
Print Design

Office
Winter Park, FL

Project Team
Mark Cedar
Shari Cedar
James Jackman
Nitreeca Jean-Noel
Michael Diaz