PaulK, Author at Kellyco

WhatsApp looks to new identity for a better user experience (and marketing)

New design for WhatsApp which further blurs the line between product experience and marketing. Overall concept is “forward”, aspiring to deliver a more accessible robust experience for WhatsApp’s 2 billion+ users. A new extensive color palette is employed across different touchpoints, complementing the brand’s primary color, WhatsApp green. Dark mode settings are also effectively addressed. The primary graphic element, graphic modules housing messaging and content become flexible blocks for a broad range of storytelling. Classic Helvetica Neue is used as the primary font which provides clarity and a very clean modern aesthetic. The use of a thin black stroke around the rounder-corner boxes that house all of the content is both functional with different backgrounds, as well as a design-forward device.. Design firm, Koto has successfully delivered a needed reimagined app design for the Meta (Facebook) product. Bravo on all accounts.

Wieden + Kennedy, Not

Creative agency Wieden+Kennedy London has just launched a standalone branding and design firm, NOT Wieden+Kennedy to offer a faster option for clients responding to branding challenges.

With a team of designers, creative technologists, motion designers, 3D artists, brand strategists and writers, NOT W+K is slated to work with collaborators inside and outside the agency’s global network. The department is headed up by award-winning branding and design creative director Adam Rix, whose 20 years’ worth of experience has seen him work with clients including Nike, Dr Martens, BBC, Manchester City Football Club and the British Fashion Council. The dynamic graphic element (static or animated) in the identity does the spinoff justice. Not quite as sure about naming the group “not”, which straddles too cute and negative for the branding/advertising giant.

New brand identity for media agency. Mindshare, a global media agency network was established in late 90’s through the merger of the media groups of both JWT and Ogilvy & Mather. Mindshare partners with some of the world’s biggest companies. It positions itself as authentically data- and technology-enabled. The new logo is a sans serif wordmark where some of the letterforms that would normally be straight have been rounded into friendlier curved lines. The identity’s color palette is bright and accessible while suggesting knowledge and technology. Overall, a modern, almost-hip new brand identity for the mega agency group that should serve them well with its big ticket clients. The new identity was created by London, UK-based NB. No reinventing the wheel here but a solid refresh.

A new logo design for Network Capital, a fintech company providing mortgage lending and servicing to homeowners and homebuyers in 37 states. The new identity highlights the letter N in a bright orange color. Formed by scoring parallel white lines across an orange block, the new symbol is both simple and elegant—giving the brand name weight and distinction. Creative work by renowned brand design firm, Chermayeff & Geismar & Haviv.

Data visualization system for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation created to help tell and support data-driven stories about gender equality. All design layouts and templates are designed from either plus or equal signs, reinforcing the gender equality and progress. Noto, a comprehensive open-source font family with support for over 1,000 languages, is utilized for all online applications. The broad far-reaching project reinforces how data can effectively tell compelling human stories and help target audiences see beyond normally intimidating data presentation. An amazing effort by renowned design consultancy Pentagram (partner, Giorgia Lupi and team). Bill and Melinda should be thrilled.

The search giant introduces a redesigned icon set and design language for its more integrated Workspace while retaining the identity and accessibility of existing products. Design and supporting animations show users transparent layers that overlap and extend from one app to the next, better representing an integrated experience and collaboration. All creative by brand consultancy, Wolff Ollins. Simply, beautifully designed and executed.

The Tribeca Film Festival launched in 2001, founded by Robert De Niro and Jane Rosenthal, as a means of using the power of film to usher in joy and hope to a city reeling from the devastation of 9/11. Two decades later, as the world-renowned festival honors its 20th anniversary, the organization has undergone brand overhaul in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.The widely recognizable existing logo needed updating to reflect its revised name and to celebrate the festival’s 20th anniversary. Since its featured roster have expanded beyond film to include TV, art, comedy, talks, games, podcasts, immersive experiences, virtual programs, and more, the festival was renamed as the more media-inclusive Tribeca Festival. The new comprehensive celebratory rebrand (by Pentagram) features a bold and colorful anniversary logo along with a new bright color palette, dynamic typography (utilizing Druk and Basis Grotesque typefaces) and clever animations. It all screams celebration and is both distinctive and joyful. The new branding is comprehensive covering event graphics, advertising, promotional materials, posters, video and social media. While we continue to struggle through the challenges of the pandemic, the Tribeca Festival continues to entertain, celebrate the arts and give us a good reason to get together and enjoy the show. Bravo!!!

Neiman Marcus has been through a lot including significant team restructuring, refinancing, acquisitions and high-level design partnerships following its emergence from bankruptcy over one year ago. Its new campaign hopes to show the company’s growth and transformation, re-introducing itself to customers in a fresh new light. The new campaign to debut this fall is broad with both still photography and video, all communicating dramatic visual stories around the juxtaposition of customers’ re-emergence to work, life and nature. Digital campaign stories will be shared throughout the season on social media platforms and the retailer’s homepage, in addition to the brand’s own publication, The Book, which will feature a range of exclusive interviews with established brands, designers and creatives. New, exclusive brands are the leading force of the campaign with the retailer hoping to reach existing and new customers with new style perspectives in a dramatically changing world. Like so many things, time will tell. Curious to see if one of the old guards of luxury retail can stake a claim in the new world of fashion. We’ll be watching…

Kellyco@work | 914Cares (brand identity, digital design, social media, graphic design). Created new brand identity, website and social media post library for regional non-profit organization providing assistance to struggling community members. Developed new design and messaging platform, enabling more impactful communication, efficient online fundraising and diverse promotion capabilities. More on this project >