Bridging eras to reinvent Furtado

Furtado is a powerhouse in engineering, construction management, and land surveying, tackling the ever-changing infrastructure needs of its communities. 

When Josh Cheatham acquired the company, he saw an opportunity—not just to lead, but to elevate the Furtado brand and take on bigger, bolder projects. Determined to put his own stamp on the firm while honoring its legacy, he set out to modernize Furtado without losing the name recognition built and respected by their partners and clients. They also had ambitious growth plans and needed a brand powerful enough to attract top talent while fostering a unified, aligned team for them to join. 

Furtado recognized the need to evolve its brand and digital presence to better attract top talent, strengthen partnerships, and reinforce its commitment to excellence and inclusivity. To achieve these goals, they engaged Hansen Belyea, a firm with expertise in brand strategy, digital transformation, and user experience design.

Hansen Belyea has helped them achieve those goals by equipping Furtado with a high-impact brand that signals integrity, renewed energy for their work, and their embrace of the Pacific Northwest community. We’ve thoroughly enjoyed collaborating with this team on the rebrand and website and our continued partnership throughout this year to continue expanding their brand and business.

Digging deep on brand and web priorities

Through a few Discovery Sessions, the deployment of qualitative and quantitative surveys with Furtado’s employees, clients, and partners, Hansen Belyea identified several critical pieces to inform the priorities of the website project: 

+ Clarity on services and capabilities: Furtado felt that their current and potential clients were unclear about Furtado’s full scope of services and areas of expertise. Furtado needed an answer to the question: What does Furtado do?

+ Recruitment: Potential hires viewed Furtado as an innovative but somewhat opaque company with limited insight into its workplace culture and diversity of people.

+ Mobile website experience: Multiple stakeholders expressed frustration with the existing website’s clunky mobile experience and navigation. 

+ Updating Challenges: Internal teams struggled to update the website with new job postings, projects, and imagery, leading to outdated content.

Our research also informed the development of the logo and visual brand identity. In our discussions, Josh decided to retain the Furtado name (aside from shortening it from Furtado & Associates) because of its industry-wide recognition and trust while moving forward with refreshing the look and feel of the brand. The new brand had to: 

+ Appeal to civil engineers, both green and experienced

+ Communicate the professionalism and energy of new ownership 

+ Stand apart from competitors without alienating partners

Experiencing Furtado now

In developing a simple yet descriptive logomark for Furtado, we went back to the core principle of surveying – determining precise locations on the surface using triangulation. The three arrows of the new mark represent this concept, with the core base triangle representing the earth’s surface. When put into motion, the arrows animate inward toward the center, symbolizing the precision of Furtado’s work. Introducing the orange palette references the bright colors associated with surveying and construction  – and sets Furtado apart from their competitors. A clean uppercase font was chosen, and incorporates a modification to the letter “R”, introducing an angle to reference the angles included in the logomark. 

The design embodies precision and reliability, mirroring the meticulous nature of their work. Its clean, modern aesthetic ensures versatility across digital and print applications, maintaining brand consistency across all touchpoints.

On website design and functionality

The new fully custom website now effectively serves multiple audience segments, from recruits to clients. With Furtado’s investment in photography and videography, high-impact imagery and strategic brand messaging highlight Furtado’s people-first ethos and commitment to excellence. The site’s intuitive content management system empowers staff to update job postings, project highlights, and visuals easily. Designed for impact, the experience shift enhances user engagement through reactive mobile design, streamlined navigation, and compelling brand storytelling—showcasing Furtado’s authenticity, integrity, and scalability.

Furtado's road ahead

By leveraging research-driven insights, strategic brand development, and user-focused website design, Hansen Belyea successfully transformed Furtado’s digital presence and business. The new brand platform and website not only enhanced Furtado’s market positioning but also strengthened its ability to attract talent, engage partners, and communicate its people-first ethos.