Refreshing a brand
More than just updating the design to reflect current trends, refreshing a brand requires the careful distillation of key brand pillars and an artistic and strategic approach to bring those pillars into the new visual representation of the brand. It necessitates measured estimation of what the future holds and the careful selection of design elements that are current enough to stand out in the present day but timeless enough to adapt to the design vision of tomorrow.
Background
7 Communication's existing branding was cohesive and recognizable, and it likely could have served us for a few more years. That said, being a future-oriented agency, it was important to prioritize innovation. Alongside a website redesign, we elected to update our visual identity. We were meticulous, examining our brand holistically to ensure that this evolution would be one that could represent us for many years to come. It was important to reflect the larger tapestry of who we had become as a growing agency with an expanded list of services.
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Challenge
From the iconic orange to our classic font, the visual identity as it was, was familiar to both our clients and others in our category. To avoid losing the currency of our existing brand recognition, we needed to strike the perfect balance between refreshing the brand while staying true to its essence—the key elements that already resonate with our audience.
First, we needed to revisit our brand framework and update it to reflect our evolved goals and brand values. We would use that as our north star to understand which elements of the brand needed to be refreshed and what criteria aligned with the brand vision.
As an agency that works with a roster of primarily luxury lifestyle clients, the brand needed to have a look and feel that reflected our sophistication as well as encompassed our passionate drive and innovative spirit.
Challenge
From the iconic orange to our classic font, the visual identity as it was, was familiar to both our clients and others in our category. To avoid losing the currency of our existing brand recognition, we needed to strike the perfect balance between refreshing the brand while staying true to its essence—the key elements that already resonate with our audience.
First, we needed to revisit our brand framework and update it to reflect our evolved goals and brand values. We would use that as our north star to understand which elements of the brand needed to be refreshed and what criteria aligned with the brand vision.
As an agency that works with a roster of primarily luxury lifestyle clients, the brand needed to have a look and feel that reflected our sophistication as well as encompassed our passionate drive and innovative spirit.
Solution
Using the brand framework as a guide, we identified 4 elements ripe for a refresh:
- Colour palette
- Fonts
- Graphic Style
- Photography
With the colour palette, we wanted to keep our classic and iconic orange. We decided to darken the hue to better support new standards of online accessibility. With that, we wanted to find a way to brighten the rest of the palette. We started from the light grey that we traditionally paired with our orange and shifted this hue to a light lilac shade. This shift in hue really made the orange sing and simultaneously added an unexpected elegance. To give us a little more flexibility and playfulness, and to reflect our more innovative side, we added a secondary colour palette with bright, contrasting hues of teal, lime, peach, and ultramarine purple.
Our font, Brandon, had worked hard for us over the years. We wanted to evolve with a new and dynamic font that was going to have similar staying power. It had to feel innovative while flexing functionality and friendliness. Many hours of research and testing led us to HeroKid; the perfect font to grab the torch. It is a powerhouse of flexibility that feels classic, clinical and precise but with playful thick and thin lines that make it fun and approachable. To bring in a touch of editorial elegance and organic warmth, we introduced Petersburg Italic as an accent font.
With our growing presence on social media, we required more expansive graphic assets to play with when expressing our brand to our audience. Clean, sharp, rectangular blocks had always been our ammo, and we decided to keep them as a key element of our graphic suite. To complement the solid forms and straight lines, we added a gradient blended from our new palette, bringing in a softer element.
For the previous brand, imagery included fiery, high-contrast tones that leaned into a more robust, energetic mood. As the agency now had a more established and poised foundation, we shifted towards dynamic images with softer, velvety orange tones, evoking inspiration, and elegance. Subtle, occasional nuances of lilac add an element of depth and approachable warmth.
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Results
The new brand now encompasses the evolved company ethos and better aligns with the three brand pillars we arrived at through much reflection and discovery: sophistication, passion, and innovation. Having pursued design elements that feel classic with well-researched touches of innovation, this brand refresh is set to endure for the next era of 7 Communications.
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