A brand new PassionSwirls is here!
We are going more in-depth with our visual branding here, explicitly diving into each element and explaining our choices. This will serve as a good case study for rebranding or simply if you want to know more about our process.
In line with one of our values, we want to build a meaningful brand with transparency. This means bringing you guys through all our design decisions. Before we begin, let’s get some definitions out of the way.
How do we define brand?
Every business is a brand. To us, a brand is about how people feel about your business, just like how you feel about people around you or items you own. You either have strong feelings about it, or you simply forget that it exists.
What does ‘crafting a brand’ mean to us?
We use the words' craft a brand' a lot. To us, it means that we personify your business to showcase the values that you stand for. It is much easier for people to evaluate and relate since they go through the same process when choosing what people to surround themselves with.
Instead of leaving it up for everyone to interpret, we intentionally put across messages and a personality that we know our audience will love.
We looked at these fours aspects of our business in this rebrand to showcase our brand values.
01/
identity
Logo, colours, typography, images, videos that define our personality.
02/
communications
The tone of voice, messaging, and solutions you bring to the table.
03/
experience
How people feel when they interact with the brand while forming an opinion about us.
04/
community
How people feel about being a part of our brand to create a greater impact together.
As we shared in our rebrand approach, we wanted to rebrand because our existing brand wasn’t built to scale. We simply started off with some colours and a logo. As the days went by, we drifted further and further away from it. And so it’s time for a new direction!
Crafting our new brand identity
A new logo & brand mark
Logo
Our logo is simple, straight to the point without any other fancy arrangements to take our attention away from the imperfect beauty of the font. We also went with a lowercase to look more approachable.
To honour all things handmade and a touch of personalisation, we went for a hand-lettered serif font. A serif font usually stands for trust, established and authority. While we want to send out that message, we also don’t want to appear too rigid and corporate.
We are all for collaboration, and a hand-lettered font is just right to show that we are professional enough to be your creative partner and craft your brand alongside you.
Mark
Our mark takes the letter 'S' from the font and is put together to look like a brain and a bunch of swirls. It is not perfectly straight nor smooth, but that's what humans and brands are all about. We are here to grow as we listen to our audience's needs.
typography
Our reasons for using Walker (from Margot + Co) are stated above. Artegra Sans (from Artegra Type Foundry) balances it out. It is simple, timeless, classic and easy on the eyes. There are also a variety of font weights, so it's easy for us to expand our typography system when we need to.
Atlantis (from Wilde Mae Studio) is an additional human touch we want to have on our site. It is only used for names on testimonials and our blog sign-offs.
Colors
One of our core values is to build a sustainable brand with you. One that does not lead to burnout. How you feel in the morning usually sets the tone for the rest of the day.
This is why our colours take inspiration from the soft morning light of nature. Hues of sunrise that signify new beginnings. Plants that are ready to absorb all the goodness from the sun. We want you to feel warm, cozy, invited and inspired when you look at our brand.
elements, shapes & textures
In our new brand, we place emphasis on being organic, natural and in the flow. Hence with all our shapes and elements, we use curves to soften the overall look.
The deckled edges bring in another level of human by reminding us that we are all not perfect. And that’s totally ok. It also connects us with the non-digital world. The rough, imperfect lines also transcend in our hand-drawn elements. They are something we provide to all our clients. It is unique to them, specially made to tailor to their brands.
A massive thank you
Thank you, everyone, for loving PassionSwirls as it has been since day one. We are now fully aligned and ready to be your best creative partner that brings out the best of your business.
We will continue to hone our skills, listen to you and give back to the community (We donate 10% of your project investment to various charities). Now that our rebrand is done and we have a brand strategy in place, we will always stay true to our vision and values. Showing up and setting an example for all that we advocate for.
We’ve crafted a brand that we hope will help you build a meaningful business that supports your dream life while making an impact on others.