The Aperio

The Fine Print of Great Leadership

Hidden inside a familiar phrase was the story waiting to be told.

The Aperio was created to help leaders be worth following—which is great, but also generic. “Be worth following” can be a nice tagline, but without definition, it was just words.

By elevating the company’s keystone research project that shows 77% of leadership effectiveness stems from two core traits, we gave worth weight and meaning. That discovery shaped everything — from the new identity and icon to the client experience itself — and turned a leadership message into a leadership movement.

CREATIVE DIRECTION | BRAND STRATEGY | DESIGN EXECUTION

The Aperol logo with the slogan 'be worth following' beneath it.

The Challenge

The Aperio had a powerful research insight, but the brand wasn’t telling that story.

The tagline at the time — “better leaders, better results, better lives” — felt broad and generic. It didn’t capture founder Tim Spiker’s key discovery: being inwardly sound and others-focused accounts for 77% of leadership effectiveness.

The brand needed a sharper voice, a more professional presence, and a way to make worth feel concrete for senior executives who were investing in transformation.

Text saying "The Aero* be worth following" with an asterisk next to the word Aero.
Six panels displaying branding and motivational messages for The Aperio. The top row shows branding with logo and slogan 'be worth following,' a symbol, and the bottom row repeats the branding and an inspirational quote about leadership effectiveness.

The Creative Shift

We centered everything on a single idea: be worth* following.

The asterisk became the brand’s defining symbol — a subtle footnote that carried the hidden truth.

  • It pointed to the research.

  • It gave worth real meaning.

  • It honored continuity with the old “thriving person” icon while elevating the entire look and feel.

The new identity replaced abstraction with clarity, and turned a vague promise into a standard.

The Design System

With “the 77%” as the heartbeat, we redesigned the brand from the ground up:

  • Logo & Type: Stable, substantial, professional.

  • Color Palette: Harsh orange softened into a warmer, more sophisticated tone while keeping the distinctive blue/orange balance.

  • Domain: From the hard-to-spell Aperio to the memorable BeWorthFollowing.org.

The visual system wasn’t decoration — it was definition.

A collection of branding and stationery items for The Aperio, including flyers, business cards, pens, a folder, a tablet displaying a website, and a smartphone, all placed on a textured surface.

Why It Worked

Clarity of Insight

Elevating a hidden research finding (77% of leadership effectiveness) into the core brand message.

Creative Hook

Using the asterisk as both a visual icon and a conceptual metaphor — the fine print of great leadership.

Integration

Extending the brand across identity, web, physical products, and a book launch.

The Experience

Because the audience included high-level executives, every touchpoint had to feel intentional.

  • Physical artifacts: Custom leather notebooks (sourced internationally), U.S.-made wood boxes, and display cards designed to last.

  • Cost-effective printing techniques that delivered a premium feel without breaking budget.

  • Book design & production: Aligning Tim Spiker’s long-awaited book with the refreshed identity, ensuring consistency and credibility.

Every detail became a tangible extension of the brand’s new clarity.

A spiral-bound booklet titled 'Journeys by the Apero' with a background of topographic map lines, featuring the words 'Empathic' and 'Attentive' with arrows pointing to 'Wrap-up' and 'Kick-off' respectively.
Open spiral-bound notebook with orange cover page titled 'ATTENTIVE' and subtitle about being fully present and engaged with others, placed on a white surface.
Open spiral-bound booklet on white surface showing pages with leadership diagram and information, with text focusing on leadership traits and principles.
Two metallic tokens with motivational messages placed on a wooden surface. One token says "others focused" with a tree illustration, and the other says "be worth following" with a circular border.
A small desk sign displays leadership principles and a card with the word Agapone, emphasizing service and selflessness, on a wooden table.
A closed brown notebook with a black tree and roots illustration on the cover, placed on a wooden surface.
A brown asterisk symbol with a background of faint topographical contour lines and a quote about leadership effectiveness.
A guide titled 'The Leadership Tree' with an illustration of a tree on the right side. The guide is divided into sections: 'The What of Leadership,' which lists eight leadership qualities; and 'The Who of Leadership,' which lists three traits about a
Chart titled 'The Who of Leadership' listing qualities of leaders. Focused on 'Others Focused' and 'Inwardly Sound.' Features traits like attentive, curious, empathic, humble, agape, emotionally mature, secure and settled, self-aware, principled, hol
A brochure featuring a drawing of a tree with roots, with the title "Excursions by The Aperio".
Wooden table with a tree illustration, showing dark green leaves and black branches that extend into roots.
A person peeling a clear adhesive sticker from a sheet on a glass window or door.
A sticker on the inside of a vehicle's rear window reads 'be worth* following' with a small asterisk between 'worth' and 'following'.
A dark background with a repeating pattern of X shapes and a small orange asterisk symbol on the right side, held by a person's hand.
Printed flyers or posters with a tree illustration, text about leadership and following, and a photograph of a man, all laid out on a workbench in an industrial or printing environment.

The Outcome

The rebrand positioned The Aperio with:

  • A focused identity anchored in its most transformative insight.

  • Elevated client experience that matched the investment senior leaders were making.

  • A stronger sense of internal confidence that celebrated the story at the heart of the work.

The asterisk is no longer decoration. It’s the fine print of great leadership — the standard that sets this brand apart.