Its been a long journey for tech brands. We all remember the Web 2.0 design age when startups were sprouting all over the internet and making the case for people trying them out because they exuded a feeling of fresh, disruptive ideas that can potentially change the world. Those were the heady old days for online brands and designers alike, with many logos like those of Skype, Yelp, Facebook and others providing a design blueprint for the internet age.
The experimental aesthetic styles from that era have been incorporated by today’s designers, utilizing the philosophy of happy design to attract customers over internet. This change is also resonating with big brands as well, seeing as how flexible and adaptable Web 2.0 designs have been for use in traditional as well as online advertising channels both.
We take a look at some global tech brands that have opted for a brand redesign. We will also look at how those changes can help today’s designers become more adept at designing for a high-profile tech brand.
Case 1 – Lenovo’s New Look
Do you remember the time when IBM was acquired by a then relatively-unknown corporation called Lenovo? We all did right? When a cultural behemoth gets swallowed up by this out-of-nowhere company, people are bound to stand up and take notice.
Someone somewhere at Lenovo HQ must’ve patted themselves at the back for starting this journey that made the company what it is today.
Fast forward a decade later and now, Lenovo has gone on to become a globally recognized juggernaut with a bevy of products that people love to use. Its name resonates with the corporate as well as the personal computer market alike, all thanks to a perfectly executed brand outreach campaign.
In light of its position as a top-notch tech brand, Lenovo wanted to better position itself in terms of its image. It wanted a brand identity that preserved its former reputation, while at the same time, appealing to a new generation of fans. The company has, after all, diversified its product lines and portfolio as it now boasts a range of smartphones, gaming rigs, and business machines amongst other things for its ever-going clientele. And the company has shed its Chinese-only manufacturer mentality, as Lenovo truly wants to be known as a global brand.
In light of all these requirements, designers from Saatchi and Saatchi, New York, were approached to do a rebrand that did Lenovo justice.
This is what they came up with.
A Diverse Technology Company vs. a Computers Only Company
Lenovo’s chief marketing officer David Roman summed up the logo design pretty much right,
“We want people to see us as being this company that spans different categories, that has this attitude of never stand still, that’s really focused on the internet … so let’s have a logo that helps us convey that.”
Case 2- Hewlett Packard Wants To Split Its Business
Hewlett Packard needs no introduction. The company remains one of the stalwarts of the PC age since it all began. What has changed however is that the company has undergone a lot of restructuring in the recent years, in order to become a lean and aggressive market player again.
The powers that be at HP decided that it could make better sense for HP to split its business. There was a general feeling that HP as a brand has become diluted, a fact that reflected in its balance sheet and in the face of new competitors like Lenovo and others.
In order to recapture its space in the enterprise IT marketplace, HP looked to some commercial designers to craft a business-friendly yet forward-looking brand identity for its enterprise arm.
Old vs New
As you can observe, the insistence on calm design elements and readability have resulted in a logo design that catches the attention of the corporate customer with minimal distraction. No fluff. No fat. Just a brand that simply conveys its message to businesses.
The takeaway for designers here is that too-many-frills design mentality has no place when designing a logo for a business-to-business concern. Sharp, clear and incisive design accomplishes the goals of the client here.
Case 3 – Is There An Apple In Your ‘i’?
iPod, iTunes, iPhone, iPad.
Will this madness continue? Or is there some change in the air?
Just because a deeply popular brand follows a tried-and-tested naming convention for decades, it doesn’t mean that people wont get tired of it eventually.
We are talking about Apple and its penchant for naming things by prefixing an ‘i’ before them. But recent developments suggest that Apple Inc. is looking for a rebrand for its products.
What Difference Does A Letter Make?
The Apple Watch and now Apple Music have shown that its good to take a step back and try something new. Its high-time that Apple adopted its motto ‘Think Different,’ essentially.
For designers, this means that they should never be afraid to pitch a brand new idea every once in a while. In Apple’s case, this change might seem miniscule purely from an aesthetical point of view but to its consumers, the product line renaming convention might signal a new, bolder Apple that’s confident in its mission statement to deliver products that people love to use.
Designers – How Challenging is it to Design for Tech?
These are just a handful of examples of how simple yet significant some of the designing and branding techniques are when designing for a tech business. People want to respect their heritage, and companies are no different in this regard. In the end, companies just want to have their cake and eat it too, therefore they want designers to bring something new to the table without tampering with history. For designers, embarking on a rebranding or designing project for a tech company is an awesome responsibility. On one hand, there are tech companies that have been in the market for decades, with their carefully-cultivated image that needs consideration. On the other hand, we have startups that are hungry for success, cognizant of their brand image’s goal in attracting customers at first glance. It’s a huge challenge for designers when they are handed the reins to design for a tech brand. Be it Microsoft or be it Snapchat, there’s a lot at stake. Can designers rise to the occasion?
