When we launched the new INVIVO.com in April, it was the culmination of a number of initiatives coming together. A new social media presence. New demo reels. Massive internal growth. And a new logo.
New branding was a must to display a fresh face and show how INVIVO has evolved. Now, it’s a good time for us to catch up with some of the key people involved in the process of creating the new logo: Art Directors Ian Rogers and Peter Henderson; and Interactive Designer Moses Eniojukan.
Moses, Ian, Peter, thanks for taking the time to talk about the logo!
What prompted the pursuit of a new visual identity?
Peter Henderson: The old logo was around for a fairly long time, from 2002 to 2012, and our company was growing and expanding its services and capabilities – it was the perfect time to initiate a complete rebrand.
Ian Rogers: INVIVO has been moving from strength to strength for many years. We’ve evolved significantly and the INVIVO logo needed to reflect that.
The previous INVIVO logo sported a camelcase typeface: InViVo
How did the team go about developing new ideas?
PH: The design process kicked off with a brainstorming session so we could identify potential directions to explore. After consulting with management we narrowed down our focus to four potential streams and let the design team run wild with it. We explored colour/typography variations, different visual techniques, and organized daily reviews to see how things were progressing with the team. At the end of the first round we had over 40-50 options, which Ian and I whittled down to 15 for our first presentation. 4 competitors emerged in the end, with Moses’ initial concept emerging as our front runner.
Some of the potential designs were made partially of objects, or had playful image-elements in them. Was keeping the logo all text part of the final decision?
PH: We chose to keep the logo as a wordmark in the end so it would be more adaptable in the long run. The directions we were taking with our other logo based options seemed trendy now but there was some concern about their longevity. By using our [animation and 3-d] work as the backdrop for the wordmark, we have the flexibility to update the feel of the brand as we see fit — an important factor when we work in a sector where technology is constantly changing.
IR: We definitely didn’t want to get locked into imagery that would be limiting or that might end up not being representative of the company in the future. But we did do a great deal of exploration in the areas of science, biology and technology to find suitable imagery. It was a process that really made us reassess how we see INVIVO and the kind of work we do here.
Moses, what was your aim with this design?
Moses Eniojukan: The goal I was hoping to achieve with the development of this logo was to have it successfully reflect INVIVO’s personality while simultaneously forecasting what we’re striving to become. This was a goal that was brought up right at the beginning of the rebranding process. As for me, I began experimenting with various typefaces, colour combinations, and graphical elements. However, what I believe contributed greatly to the conception of this logo was the inspiration drawn from the many other logo options proposed and the constructive feedback received from my fellow designers.
The winning design.
Blue and greens have always been part of our branding – I notice the green seems a little cooler in this new logo. Pantone has declared the 2013 Colour of the Year to be Emerald, Pantone® 17-5641 – did any design trends play a part in the design?
PH: Blue and Green were integral colours to the company since the beginning, so it was important to keep them but tweak them a little bit to update them. The addition of the lighter blue into the palette gave a new vibrancy to the company’s brand.
Veteran letterer Todd Klein has said there are 4 elements that make a good logo: Readability, Strength, Appropriateness and Originality. What four-words describe this re-design for you? What does the new INVIVO evoke?
PH: CONFIDENT, STRONG, VIBRANT, MODERN
IR: As soon as we had made the final selection it very quickly felt like it had always been our logo. It was exactly right.
Thanks Moses, Ian and Peter!