NowBeat: A Complete Brand Identity Design Project
As a designer, there’s nothing more satisfying than taking a client’s vision and making it a reality. A startup called FreeRevolution came to us with their plan… to create a music service/portal distributing free music that was 100% ad supported. The music studios would embed 5-10 seconds of an audio ad into the song and then it would be distributed to the consumer absolutely free. To understand why this concept was so avant garde, you would have to understand the time period — Napster had just shut down 3 years prior, and LimeWire, torrent, and FTP Ratio sites were still going strong.
The year was 2004.
We’re going to show you the brand identity (product name creation) and logo we designed 20 years ago. It shows how a well thought out brand identity designed by a professional design studio can stand the test of time. Take the image above… generative AI artwork combined with the logo our brand identity designers created 20 years ago, and the brand identity still looks relevant. Now that is a strong ROI.
But before we could design a logo, the music service/platform needed a name. FreeRevolution was too long. It was fine for the company name, but the product needed to speak to the masses. So the client tasked The Skins Factory to create one for them.
When searching for the perfect name, several methods can be employed. One method utilizes a compound word, which are formed by merging two or more words. For this project the name needed to be hip, modern, relevant, with strong ties to music. We came up with a compound word: NowBeat. The name describes when this “free revolution” was occurring and what the revolution was all about. It was short, easy to remember and hip. After a quick domain name inquiry, not only was the .com available but .net and .org were too. The client loved it.
So now we had a name. It was time to design the logo.
Note: Alternatively, there's the portmanteau approach to creating company and product names, where the sounds and meanings of multiple words are fused together to create a new word. Some companies that have chosen a portmanteau as their name, are Microsoft, Intel, Spotify, and Netflix.
The Logo Comps
Our brand identity design team invested considerable effort in crafting the logo. This isn’t all of them. We developed numerous design concepts before settling on the one that best represented their brand. Some persistent symbols in our comps were a speaker and a downward arrow to denote downloading. When our brand identity teams fashions comps, we always tell our clients that the colors we’re using our transient and meant as placeholders. Let's explore a selection of these iterations:
We ran through a couple of taglines: “Music in the key of FREE” and “Take Control.” Take Control won out as it had the most empowering message.
The selected logo was designed in both vertical stack and horizontal orientations. For the tactile, 3D versions, the rendered models were brought into Adobe Photoshop and processed with lighting and shadow effects.
The Final Logo Version
The ultimate iteration boasted a diverse array of styles. The default option exuded a tactile, three-dimensional design language (popular back in the mid-2000s), crafted through modeling and rendering. Each variant was tailored for both web and print mediums, spanning across CMYK, Spot Color, Grayscale, and RGB for optimal screen display.. Back in 2004, skeuomorphic aesthetics were going strong. Companies wanted the visual tactility even in their logos. We also recognized back then, that styles change, and 2D versions were needed to future-proof the brand. So we curated sleek, two-dimensional renditions to cater to various preferences and future use cases.
Logo Design Process + Deliverables
LOGO DELIVERABLES
1. Branding / Logo assets provided in industry standard screen formats (PNG/PDF/SVG) including:
positive (dark on light) / negative (light on dark) / on-color variations in full color
as per above in silhouette / knockout single color (if applicable)
stacked vs. horizontal variations (iff applicable)
each at assorted target resolutions
2. Branding / Logo assets provided in industry standard resolution—independent vector print formats (EPS/PDF/TIFF) including:
web ready / print-ready / press-ready form with embedded color management profiles
positive (dark on light) / negative (light on dark) / on-color variations in full color
xtacked vs. horizontal variations (iff applicable)
THE LOGO DESIGN PROCESS
Phase 1. Concept + Presentation
research & define creative direction
internal development and refinement of branding/Logo designs
mockup options and rationale for presentation
3 logo comp designs, if all 3 are rejected, 1 more round of 3
Phase 2. Concept Revision + Finalization
best candidate revised / refined
mockup options and rationale for presentation
Phase 3. Asset Development for Screen & Print
all Brand/Logo assets prepared for use in electronic media
definition/encoding for process color + custom spot color inks (if applicable)
usage guideline documentation + assembly for deliverables
Company + Product Name Creation
Throughout the last 2 decades, our Agency has been responsible for naming companies, products and services in the healthcare, tech & software, music & entertainment industries and more. Choosing the right name for your company or product is a crucial step in establishing a strong brand identity. At The Skins Factory, we specialize in crafting unique, memorable, and marketable names across various industries. Our expertise lies not just in creating names but in understanding the nuances of your business and target audience. By entrusting us with this task, you're tapping into a wealth of creative thinking and strategic insight that goes beyond mere wordplay. We go the extra mile to ensure your brand stands out and resonates with your audience, setting the foundation for a successful and impactful presence in the market.
THE NAME CREATION PROCESS
Phase 1. Discovery
learning about your company or product
understanding your company or product’s present/future demographic
understanding you competition’s place in the industry
Phase 2. Name Creation
our agency will create 3 name candidates
each candidate is put through a trademark search on TESS (U.S. Trademark Electronic Search System) to make sure there are no potential conflicts
our agency will conduct a domain name search to find viable domain names to coincide with the name candidates. When a domain is not viable because of prior registration, alternate domain variant names will be found and presented.
If for some reason Agency fails to create a name the Client likes on the first round, a second round will be initiated for 2 more names and the process starts over. There is a limit to potential names per contract. An addendum can be signed that starts the process over from scratch for the same fee.
Note: Regarding trademark searches on TESS — this initial search is preliminary in nature. For a comprehensive evaluation of the name's legal validity, the client is advised to consult with an intellectual property attorney who can conduct a thorough legal search.