Agency in a Box - Brand identity for a job platform
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Four tiles around an empty square: the box in the name.
Agency in a Box
Brand identity, 2013
About the project
Agency in a Box was a US job platform that sold job seekers direct contacts with recruiters, planned as the next version of the Overseas Job Portal. The idea was strong, but the brand had no personality or identity yet. In 2013 we wrote its brand personality, drew six early logo ideas, presented three directions and finished a logo with a four-tile mark and the line We connect people to people, not job seekers to job boards!
Project
Agency in a Box Brand Identity
Industry
Recruitment and Jobs
Location
United States
Date
2013
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Client Request
Agency in a Box asked for a logo and brand identity, with three logo options to choose from, plus an updated brand personality.
Agency in a Box
Project proposal, July 2013
Design Pillars
Core Brand Principles
The brand speaks with confidence and never talks down to people who are looking for work.
It teaches job hunting in small steps, from building a resume to the first call with a recruiter.
Plain facts about each job and country, with nothing made to sound better than it is.
Exploration
From Six Ideas to One Mark
Early Ideas
In July 2013 we drew six marks, from a figure in a star to a magnifier and a resume with arms.
Three Directions
In September we presented a yellow box of icons, a green check mark box and a blue and gray wordmark.
The Final Mark
Four rounded tiles with a people icon, a resume, a light bulb and a phone frame an empty square.
The Challenge
Problem Statement
The Main Goal: Give a New Job Platform a Personality
The product asked people to pay for contacts at companies, so the brand had to feel trustworthy and serious without sounding cold. It also had to hold up in a busy web app, on small phone screens and in short system messages such as errors and confirmations.
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We connect people to people, not job seekers to job boards!
Agency in a Box Tagline
Plexable, 2013
Our Approach
Solution
A Brand System for a Web App
A brand personality with traits, a personality map, a voice and copy examples, then the logo, the tagline and the colors and type used in the product. It is an example of our Branding work.
01 - Brand Personality
Ten traits, a personality map and rules for the voice, written in June 2013.
02 - Logo and Tagline
Six early ideas, three directions and a final four-tile mark with the tagline under the wordmark.
03 - Brand in the Product
The logo in every header, the palette and type in the style sheet and the voice in the system messages.
Before & After
The Blueprint & Evolution
Wordmark Direction to Final Logo
We kept the gray and blue wordmark from the September directions and added the four-tile mark.
Before: the wordmark direction, September 2013.
After: the final logo with the four-tile mark.
Design
Key Features
A Voice With Rules
The voice uses contractions, opens longer copy with a short story and drops the humor when a card is declined or a server is down.
Copy for Every Message
We wrote examples for success and error feedback, general messages and critical failures, and the product screens follow them.
Design System
Visual Identity
Typography
A gray and blue sans wordmark with the tagline in a hand-drawn script under it, and Lato and PT Sans inside the product.
Color Palette
Blue and dark gray from the logo, with slate, teal, orange, green and red in the product palette.
Brand Rules
Marketing text stays lowercase, calls to action can be uppercase, and facts about jobs and countries are shown as they are.
Impact
A Brand Built Into the Product
Results for Agency in a Box
The logo, tagline and voice run through every screen of the platform design we delivered in September and October 2013.
Agency in a Box
Result
By the Numbers
6 Early Logo Ideas
Marks drawn in July 2013, before the directions.
3 Logo Directions
A box of icons, a check mark box and a wordmark.
10 Brand Traits
Each trait paired with the line it should not cross.
Brand Strategy
The Brand Personality
Who the Brand Would Be
Before any logo, we wrote the brand personality: what makes the service different, ten traits, a personality map, the voice and copy examples. It describes a brand that stands next to its users, helps them build a professional resume and connects them with the right people. You can see some of the results below.
Final Showcase
The Agency in a Box Brand
