Officially launched last year, our new brand concept moves to the next stage, where it becomes a living, breathing process. It’s keeping us on our toes – running internal workshops to answer questions, creating new templates & guidelines, and sorting out the day to day things that support the practical movement of the new brand from theory into practice. Meanwhile, we have a clear communication strategy and have identified who we are, where we are heading and exactly what we do, which gives us the flexibility to grow into the future with strength and power.

Our new design

We’ve had lots of comments on our new design and would like to share our story behind its creation. We are in the lucky position of having the re-branding resources we need in-house. Under the guidance of our brand solutions experts, we started by looking at what was, what is and where we’re going. As we had clearly established our vision, mission and guiding principles last year, we were able to build on these foundations. We looked at who our current clients are, what they want, and what makes us stand out from the crowd. We looked at the areas where our expertise can truly flourish. We conducted surveys, ran workshops and had input from all our teams worldwide. We gathered a lot of information. 

Then we did what we do best – we analysed the data. That gave us a clear picture of our identity and positioning, allowing us to generate a brand strategy that powers us into a future where we continue to grow by helping others grow.

With this information we got to work on the design. We started with the heritage of our brand – our old logo – and brought it into the future. We thought about our strengths and added bold lines. We looked at the diversity of nations and skills that we comprise and added strong colour. Then we added a modular element that reflected our flexibility and approach to projects. We ended up with a solid design, beautiful in its simplicity, that was a strong representation of who we are.  

For some companies that would have completed the design process, but since branding is a reflection of our identity and purpose, naturally we didn’t stop there! We believe in pushing the limits, so we continued to explore ways to embody the data-driven innovation that we are known for. Our DNA is codes, tracking and numbers. Was there a way to use our DNA in our corporate design? That’s when generative design came into the picture.

Generative design

Generative design has been simply described as ‘design by algorithm’, a paradigm shift in design. The arrival of the computer has changed our world and technology has changed the face of design dramatically. However, even with the paintbrush of old replaced by a mouse, the designer is still the creator and controller of the design process. This role changes with generative design.

Used already at the cutting edge of manufacturing, art, music and animation, the process of generative design begins with an idea. The required result is then defined by a set of rules and parameters. The architect, for example, can specify the floor plan, materials, style, manufacturing processes, even the budget. These are then defined in algorithms and fed to the computer.

This is the point where design evolves. With no preconceived notions of how things should be or look, the computer simply works with the data. Coming up with all the possible options, it introduces an element of surprise and becomes a co-creator of the final product. The designer then takes on the role of curator, choosing the best, and the result becomes an organic collaboration between (hu)man and machine. 

We found our match! Creativity with a data-driven twist. As the process is very specialised, we teamed up with digital creative studio Waltz Binaire in Berlin, and together we created our programme. We defined the rules and parameters that represent our company and coded them. We started with a digital carpet, divided into squares and further divided into triangles. The triangles form a digital network – like our diverse network of 40 nationalities, different professions and clients from different business worlds, all connecting to each other and interacting to create the whole. We set the basic rules of what the colours represent. And we added our data.

You can see the results in our rebranding. Our new design truly communicates who we are as a company. A powerful, modular logo supported by a shapeshifting digital sculpture that’s as dynamic and data-driven as we are. Our data never looked so beautiful. While we’re growing the market leaders of tomorrow, their data grow our design.

And if you love our design now, wait till you see what’s coming! We’re still only at the very beginning. Soon we will go live, opening up a whole world of potential. As we explore the possibilities, more features will be added: an overlay where you can see what’s happening right now, what data is being used, and where you can see yourself in our DNA; a variety of filtering capacities; perhaps a Christmas calendar based on last year’s Excel sheets – everything is possible! The data defines our look, with our screenshots and merchandising constantly changing with the flow of new information. We have truly created a design that grows as we do. Watch this space…

If you’re interested in learning more about us or talking to us about rebranding and design, please get in contact. We’d love to hear from you.