YOUR BRAND
IMPLEMENTATION PARTNER
April 2024
We were recently engaged to undertake design concepts and brand implementation for a new start-up, Pause Collective (Pause).
Pause designs and delivers transformative experiences that are accessible to everyone by offering retreats and workshops. Through the facilitation of self-discovery and personal growth, Pause delivers on its promise to assist you to slow down, breathe, and focus on what really matters. It truly is a great initiative.
For Pause, having the right brand tone (tone of voice) was critical to steering the brand in the desired direction. In parallel with Pause working on the strategic approach to market, BrandOps set about crafting three very separate visual brand concepts that represented a different tone of voice for each.
Tone of voice relates to more than just copywriting. A brand’s tone of voice is the emotive mood that a brand expresses through a variety of design delivery methods. It is delivered through all brand touchpoints and in a variety of ways. Whether it’s the visual aesthetic on a brochure, the user experience on a website, or the pacing of a social marketing video, a tone of voice goes far beyond just words.
Understanding the target audience is crucial to creating a tone of voice that gets cut-through and resonates as intended. And this is done by creating the right emotional language for the target audience. Marketers and brand strategists need to understand the audience, and I don’t just mean their demographic stats of location, gender, and pay bracket. I mean understanding who they really are, what they desire or need solved for them, and what makes them tick. It goes deeper into the psyche.
In the case of Pause, we will explore the three brand concepts that were presented to the client. Any of these would have done the job admirably. But through this process of brand concept creation, the client recognised the right tone of voice for Pause through the visual aesthetic. Sometimes we have to see to know.
Concept 1: Earthy calm
Leading with a sense of earthy calm, concept 1 draws the viewer into a grounded and peaceful world. The thin serif font used on the logo has an understated elegance and is complemented by the icon’s linework, which represents the opening of a flower. The colour palette and imagery invite you to ‘pause’ and take a moment away from the everyday boisterousness of the world and its expectations.
Concept 2: Quiet confidence
It was the striking black-and-white imagery that was the deciding factor in concept 2 being chosen as the ‘winning’ brand concept. Concept 2’s logo uses a semi-serif font and projects a confident call to action for us to stop, pause, and reflect. The supporting icon speaks to the ways in which one can ‘pause’, and the outer circle visually encapsulates a sense of support and completeness. The colour palette leans into a subdued aesthetic and gives a sense of weight to the visual brand.
Concept 3: Playful restraint
A sense of restrained playfulness sat at the heart of concept 3. From the subdued colour palette taking on a sense of motion through the use of shapes to the inclusion of the pause button symbol, concept 3 held the balance between letting loose and quiet calm. The logo uses a slightly offbeat sans serif font with an oversized x-height. The pause symbol was incorporated both into the logo and the icon, allowing for flexibility. The minimalist image approach, clean lines of the design, and sporadic use of the wonky shapes allowed the brand to strike a sophisticated aesthetic that could still let its figurative hair down.
At BrandOps’ core is the commitment to serve our clients. We serve by working closely with our clients to understand their requirements, restrictions, and desired outcomes for each project. We understand the world isn’t perfect, and every client’s needs and brand creation journey are unique. And so too must our approach be unique with each engagement. Essentially, we bring our creative competence to provide solutions for where our clients stand, and in the case of Pause, this was no different.
In the end, it was a unanimous decision by the client and their advisers, with concept two chosen.
Which was your favourite concept?
Need to refresh your brand?
Contact us for an obligation-free discussion.
April 2024
We were recently engaged to undertake design concepts and brand implementation for a new start-up, Pause Collective (Pause).
Pause designs and delivers transformative experiences that are accessible to everyone by offering retreats and workshops. Through the facilitation of self-discovery and personal growth, Pause delivers on its promise to assist you to slow down, breathe, and focus on what really matters. It truly is a great initiative.
For Pause, having the right brand tone (tone of voice) was critical to steering the brand in the desired direction. In parallel with Pause working on the strategic approach to market, BrandOps set about crafting three very separate visual brand concepts that represented a different tone of voice for each.
Tone of voice relates to more than just copywriting. A brand’s tone of voice is the emotive mood that a brand expresses through a variety of design delivery methods. It is delivered through all brand touchpoints and in a variety of ways. Whether it’s the visual aesthetic on a brochure, the user experience on a website, or the pacing of a social marketing video, a tone of voice goes far beyond just words.
Understanding the target audience is crucial to creating a tone of voice that gets cut-through and resonates as intended. And this is done by creating the right emotional language for the target audience. Marketers and brand strategists need to understand the audience, and I don’t just mean their demographic stats of location, gender, and pay bracket. I mean understanding who they really are, what they desire or need solved for them, and what makes them tick. It goes deeper into the psyche.
In the case of Pause, we will explore the three brand concepts that were presented to the client. Any of these would have done the job admirably. But through this process of brand concept creation, the client recognised the right tone of voice for Pause through the visual aesthetic. Sometimes we have to see to know.
Concept 1: Earthy calm
Leading with a sense of earthy calm, concept 1 draws the viewer into a grounded and peaceful world. The thin serif font used on the logo has an understated elegance and is complemented by the icon’s linework, which represents the opening of a flower. The colour palette and imagery invite you to ‘pause’ and take a moment away from the everyday boisterousness of the world and its expectations.
Concept 2: Quiet confidence
It was the striking black-and-white imagery that was the deciding factor in concept 2 being chosen as the ‘winning’ brand concept. Concept 2’s logo uses a semi-serif font and projects a confident call to action for us to stop, pause, and reflect. The supporting icon speaks to the ways in which one can ‘pause’, and the outer circle visually encapsulates a sense of support and completeness. The colour palette leans into a subdued aesthetic and gives a sense of weight to the visual brand.
Concept 3: Playful restraint
A sense of restrained playfulness sat at the heart of concept 3. From the subdued colour palette taking on a sense of motion through the use of shapes to the inclusion of the pause button symbol, concept 3 held the balance between letting loose and quiet calm. The logo uses a slightly offbeat sans serif font with an oversized x-height. The pause symbol was incorporated both into the logo and the icon, allowing for flexibility. The minimalist image approach, clean lines of the design, and sporadic use of the wonky shapes allowed the brand to strike a sophisticated aesthetic that could still let its figurative hair down.
At BrandOps’ core is the commitment to serve our clients. We serve by working closely with our clients to understand their requirements, restrictions, and desired outcomes for each project. We understand the world isn’t perfect, and every client’s needs and brand creation journey are unique. And so too must our approach be unique with each engagement. Essentially, we bring our creative competence to provide solutions for where our clients stand, and in the case of Pause, this was no different.
In the end, it was a unanimous decision by the client and their advisers, with concept two chosen.
Which was your favourite concept?
Need to refresh your brand?
Contact us for an obligation-free discussion.
