Although creating an identity for a start-up can be great fun, it can also provide some of the most challenging briefs. McCloud was no exception, as they needed a brand they could use from the outset, but hadn’t yet pinpointed the audience they wanted to target, nor the services they were to focus on.
What’s more, McCloud found themselves in a quandary: they didn’t come across as ‘corporate’ as they wanted to appeal to SMEs, but on the other hand they didn’t want to appear too small as they wanted to be taken seriously by the enterprise sector as well.
On a practical level, McCloud had a limited budget – like many start-ups – and needed the brief turned around in three weeks in the middle of Christmas break. They also needed business cards and email signatures produced but didn’t have their phone numbers and website sorted yet. This brief was going to need some surefire Bc ingenuity to get it turned around!
The branding process started with a review of IT brands currently in the market, giving McCloud a birds-eye view of what was out there. Then Brand chemistry refined McCloud’s core values into three solid, compelling brand values which could be used as a creative platform to build the brand upon.
The first iteration of the design process came up with a range of concepts, which was then refined down to one look and feel. A flexible, cleverly thought-through timeline – with deadlines agreed in advance – meant the project was delivered on time and on budget.
