One of our main goals was to bundle efforts into building a stronger brand. In the past CIRCL had two sites, two social media accounts and 
it was not very clear where to go to find the right content and services. We had the chance to make it easier for the costumers what the 
main services were and what else they could get help with. Their Logo had been made by a friend and although it was a good one it had potential to be even better.

• Build a responsive website
• Re-Branding
• Re-think the Journey Phases
• Adjust Strategy & Design for higher conversion rates
• Unify efforts, channels, marketing, funnel
• Simplify
less clicks, less steps, less noise
• Adjust Pricing
• Re-structured service packages
• Define Portfolio
• Curated overview with the most relevant projects

‍

Strategy

We found out that their customer journey needed clarity.

• How can we solve branding weakness and 
start developing a stronger identity?
• How can we make it easy for prospects to book our services?
• What are the primary services?
• How can we start measuring our efforts?
• How can we automate some processes?

‍

Audit

We began with an audit of the brand, web and marketing channels. It was clear that they could unify their channels - developing a more clear vision for the current business structures. The old Social Channels were very similar (in looks and content) so they had a huge potential by merging the two accounts. The two websites they had were very different. The first one was a single page website, with a full screen video showcasing projects. The second one had multiple pages, very long ones, but was not converting and lacked a clear structure. So we also had the opportunity to create one great website and improve the experience for prospect clients.

‍

Research

• Identify best practices for organising information.
• Uncover strategies to inspire followers to take action.
• Understand pain points that could make usability difficult.
• Which UI elements could be improved?
• What aspects of the Website helps promote the services?
• What color scheme and design aesthetics will appeal to the target audience?

‍

The Logo

The old logo has served them very well and was a good one, but from a typographic standpoint it could be improved. It was very fun to show the client what the issues were and they could not unsee the imperfections anymore.

Here a list of the first changes I proposed:

• Kerning adjustment, reducing the gap between the R and the C
• Overshoot correction for the letters C - Both letters needed to be a bit larger in order to appear as being the same size as the letters with straight endings. This is not a mathematical correction, but a visual one.
• Proportion adjustments at the letters R and L, making them more narrow
• Adjusting the cut on the first letter C, in order to be at a more intentional angel.
  ‍

‍

‍

Wait a moment...

I want to share a part of the process that people normally don't like to talk about. What happens when the client does not agree with a proposed solution? Well, that happened at some point within this project and here are some important thoughts:

In order to bring the logo to a next level, and bring an element of novelty, I went a bit further that the more obvious typographic corrections. I suggested to change the R to a more unusual shape and to make the L a lot more narrow. These changes would make the logo more compact, which would give us the opportunity to be more present when placed with the same width as the old one.

Even though I was very excited about this version (and I was able to get support from the client) the majority of the colleagues voted for the previous version. We discovered during the interviews that not everyone saw the need for a bigger change, and they appreciated the version that were closer to the old logo.

And you know what? That is OK!

Why am I sharing this example? Well, there are some learnings here that we can keep in mind:

• Detail - Microtypography may be “invisible” for most people, but it is a huge contributor for professional-looking solutions.
• Discernment - It is important to differentiate the critical and non-critical requests.
• Detachment - Understanding when a client is not ready to commit to a specific change.
• Support - Testing can provide clarity when stakeholders do not want to be left alone with a decision.

‍

The Final Logo

Voilà, here you can compare the old and the new.

Invisible changes for most people.
Very subtle changes for a less trained eye.
Indeed obvious changes for you that sticked with me so far! 🙌

‍