Rebranding 'St.Ives group' as 'Kin + Carta'

The rebrand marks the transition of St Ives Group from its print heritage to a wholly digital business with Kin + Carta specialist agencies working together under a new methodology called The Connective to offer clients seamless and holistic digital transformation.

Setting a foundation for the brand identity Carter Wong was appointed to design a new visual identity that conveyed the Kin + Carta business proposition and seismic shift from its heritage business with clarity and personality. Working closely with writing agency Reed Words and the Kin + Carta team, Carter Wong’s creative captures the essence of The Connective and creates a foundation for the development of wider brand identity.

‘Kin’ means family, representing the heart of the business and seamless collaboration between group and client; and ‘Carta’ is representative of vision – the head of the business, as each specialist business within The Connective comes together to help Kin + Carta clients navigate the digital space.

The logo expresses the Kin + Carta proposition, connecting the two words with a plus symbol to represent the bringing together of specialist teams to deliver a bespoke and seamless digital transformation offering to clients. A bold, capitalised typeface reinforces the strength of Kin + Carta’s holistic proposition.

Creativity and conceptual thinking Sarah Turner, Managing Director, Carter Wong, said: “We’ve built on the Kin + Carta team’s strategic thinking to create a thoughtful brand positioning that’s encapsulated in a bold new identity which clearly expresses its core values and position as a global connective. “Working in collaboration with both Kin + Carta and Reed Words allowed us to slot straight into the team, making the project a seamless experience from start to finish.”

Sarah Berger, Senior Marketing Manager, Kin + Carta, said: “The vibrant, multi-dimensional brand identity stands out in a crowded marketplace and Carter Wong’s brand architecture thinking is helping us define a new way of working across The Connective. It was a challenging brief and Carter Wong and Reed Words responded with creativity and conceptual thinking.”

Shaping a connective logo

The logo has in-built flexibility allowing it to be used seamlessly across all internal and external communications. Brightly coloured connective overlays in six tri-colour palettes enable Kin + Carta to amend the nuances of the visual identity to appeal to different sector audiences whilst retaining the strength of the core brand.

These overlays consist of an abstract ‘K’ and ‘C’, with forms that overlap and intersect like a Venn Diagram, reflecting the collaborative nature of the in-house teams bringing together ideas, disciplines, people and processes – individual but united under a single identity.

Animated versions of these overlays are available for use across the wider brand world, with the connectivity of the shapes fluctuating – moving from interlocking to standing alone. The movement embodies Kin + Carta’s adaptable and flexible nature whilst also emphasising its ability to employ abstract thinking.

The multi-coloured brand landscape represents the diversity and multi-disciplinary nature of Kin + Carta, with each colour combination grounded in the core brand personalities of: Family, Collaborative, Vibrant, Visionary, Intelligent and Curious.

Feel Good Inside Out

This latest brand extension builds on the strength of the Nomadic brand, showcasing the depth of flavour and health benefits within each bottle of Kefir. In contrast to Nomadic’s Lassi and Ayran yogurt drink ranges, the Kefir bottles are encircled in a bright blue label, adding standout on the supermarket shelf, whilst giving a nod to the colour coding of the dairy sector.

Working alongside illustrator Daniel Long, Carter Wong helped produce illustrations of the Caucasus Mountains – where Kefir is said to originate from – that run along the base of the label, celebrating the authenticity of the product, with the core flavour ingredients radiating from behind like the sun. The fine silver foil block lines also help to create a glow on front of pack, visually reinforcing the product’s core benefit of health from the inside out.

A strong bold logomark was crafted for the Kefir word, with typographic niceties to certain characters, giving it an authentic eastern European feel.

Introducing Protean Electric

Protean approached Carter Wong in 2017 to provide structure and clarity to their identity through a comprehensive rebrand project. The previous visual identity had created confusion between company and product branding both internally and externally

We addressed this issue by introducing a new structure for the brand. The overarching identity for Protean has been refreshed with an instantly-recognisable brand mark showing the letter ‘P’ incorporating a lightning bolt in negative space, to help enhance the electric nature of the business.

Designed to be flexible across multiple touchpoints, this logo can be used on its own or supported by the brand name Protean and strapline ‘Electric Automotive Technology’ where appropriate.

Protean’s first product – ProteanDrive, an in-wheel electric motor with integrated digital control,– operates under a separate brand identity, named ProteanDrive, with the core brand logo incorporated into the wordmark. Individual models within ProteanDrive also adopt the ‘P’ logo as part of their identity.

With a target market that straddles both the tech and motor industries, Protean’s new brand identity needed to be flexible enough to appeal to these diverse audiences. Carter Wong encouraged Protean to place its sector-leading technology at the forefront of its brand identity, moving towards a forward-thinking automotive technology company, with inbuilt flexibility to grow and diversify in the future.

Stepping away from the previously-adopted green tones designed to demonstrate the brand’s eco-credentials, Carter Wong introduced a vibrant blue hue to reflect the electricity at the heart of the brand offer. This vivid tone is the primary colour used across all Protean touchpoints, from the website to social media.

Superfood brand Aduna releases new Super-Teas range

Health food brand Aduna, which offers a range of superfood products whilst creating incomes for rural African households, has launched a new selection of nutrient-rich African Super-Teas with design by Carter Wong.

Aduna and Carter Wong started working in partnership in 2013. The brand quickly gained traction in the UK market with listings in Selfridges, Holland & Barrett and Liberty London.

The three hero ingredients of the Aduna range – Moringa, Baobab and Cacao – are joined by Hibiscus and Turmeric to create the new range of five Super-Teas. Each superfood ingredient is supported by a more traditional flavour such as green tea or lemon and ginger to offer a more familiar taste profile to UK consumers. Vibrant patterns and colourways crafted by Carter Wong differentiate between each of the five flavours. These bespoke graphic patterns are an extension of the powerful brand identity Carter Wong created for Aduna, with a bold type and vivid colour blocking that positions the brand between health and beauty and brings these nutrient-rich African ingredients into the UK mainstream.

With the new Super-Teas range, the benefit of the ingredients is placed of greatest importance on pack, with the individual flavour profiles sitting underneath. The health benefits of Moringa, Baobab, Cacao, Hibiscus and Turmeric are clearly identified with an engaging, informal tone of voice, supported by simple graphics that encourage the consumer to ‘Drink tea, feel good, do good’.

2018 Winners Announced

After much deliberation, we’re delighted to announce the winner – in due course…

The brief asked for an outcome that challenged people’s perceptions on social drinking, centring on attitudes and awareness. We were inundated with student entries from Norwich University of the Arts, with whom we are now in our 4th year of collaboration. This year’s winner has answered the brief head on, having created a visually interesting outcome that wowed each and every judge with clear, honest thinking.

Follow our link, keep your eyes peeled and your fingers crossed!

To The Trains is Featured in Computer Arts Magazine

We have unveiled the fourth in our annual series of limited edition Noted notebooks, crafted in partnership with Boss Print. Designed and produced each year as a self-initiated project under a new graphic theme, this year’s edition is inspired by the work of Leslie Green, architect of the London Underground stations famed for his exotic-tiled ticket halls and geometric platform interiors.

“To the Trains” is an exploration of London Underground tiles, and was selected as the theme for the 2017 edition of Noted following a team-wide brainstorm. In a move away from the typical graphic design subjects of previous years towards a broader topic that speaks to a more diverse audience, this years To the Trains starts with the work of Edwardian architect Green through the London Underground, celebrating the often-overlooked decorative tiled patterns that adorn the walls of this subterranean network.

We hope is that this new edition of the Noted Notebook, inspires people to look at the London Underground with fresh eyes, and rediscover the beautiful artistry before them every day.

Rebrand of Ocean Trawlers - A new spirit of the Ocean

We carried out the entire rebrand and accompanying messaging for Ocean Spirit across physical and digital channels, designing all branded elements – covering strategy, naming, messaging, logo, as well as the physical packaging, stationery, websites and video content.

Ocean Spirit provides whole frozen fish and industrial blocks for industries and distributors around the world.

The new name and logo express the wild and epic nature of the seas and the branding underlines the scale of the worldwide business, with the design of the logo suggestive of a globe and the colossal seas.  The brand language now evokes the wild and epic nature of the seas themselves and the romance of the oceans is grounded through visual call-backs to the fisheries industry itself, with the adapted typeface conjuring up the language of shipping.

IKAWA go big and bold with their new innovative home roasting coffee kit

If you think green coffee home roasting is only for diehard coffee uber-connoisseurs, well think again. IKAWA are at the helm of making this new category more readily accessible and challenged us to create their product packaging. Like with all emerging categories the visual codes are yet to be defined, therefore there are no constraints to be like any other kitchen appliance.

IKAWA have a wonderfully simple, visually striking product so we needed a solution that oozed minimalism. We identified that IKAWA would gain the biggest advantage if they focused their efforts on building brand visibility, as this would be the foundations of making their name synonymous with the category. Our solution used the simplicity of IKAWA’s powerful red logo and went super-scale, wrapping it round their pack, making it feel fun, premium and memorable.

Back to tradition for the design of the 2017/18 English Heritage Handbook cover

Our brief was to create the cover for the English Heritage Members’ Handbook for 2017/18. The solution needed to be iconic, and inspire and appeal to English Heritage’s Member community without alienating a wider audience. Most importantly, it needed to deliver their brand promise of ‘Step Into England’s Story’.

Having chosen Deal Castle in Kent as the property English Heritage would represent, we felt we needed to unlock the whole area’s history by developing a concept that worked on two levels, one being a key with a handle that was the unusual shape of Deal Castle and secondly, a map of the surrounding area that depicted interesting historical facts and tales. The key gave our design immediate iconic visibility and the map with all its stories gave the design a rich and interesting layer of discovery, in turn building a stronger bond with English Heritage and the Handbook’s users.

Rather than ‘fake it’ by creating a linocut style illustration, we felt we needed to create our own piece of history by commissioning renowned printmaker Hugh Ribbans to craft and painstakingly cut the piece. The final printed design uses the map texturally on both the front and back of the handbook, it has a smooth soft touch finish and the key pops off the page with a high gloss varnish. The design was then followed through and adapted across membership cards and bookmarks.

Atlantika to Glacialis rebrand for global B2B fisheries firm Norebo

Following the strategic repositioning of Norebo, their premium B2B brand formerly know as Atlantika became Glacialis. The new brand needed to reflect the fact that harvesting extends into fishing grounds in both the North Atlantic and North Pacific oceans.

The rebrand was delivered as an end-to-end project, encompassing strategy, naming, messaging, logo, as well as the physical packaging, stationery, websites and video content.

The new brand now reflects the fact that harvesting extends into fishing grounds in both the North Atlantic and North Pacific oceans.

Providing, sustainable wild-fresh frozen at sea fish fillets to chefs, restaurants and fish and chip shops.

Introducing Norebo - The new name of Ocean Trawlers

We are proud to announce the creation of a new brand identity for Ocean Trawlers’ parent company Norebo (previously known as Karat group).

This is the first time we have been asked to design for the parent company, following our continued 6 year relationship with both Ocean Trawlers and Atlantika.

Norebo SEG Exhibition

How do you show three product brands, and one parent brand in one exhibition space with clarity and simplicity? This was the challenge we were set this year – with the new designs for the Norebo stand at the global SEG fisheries show in Brussels this year.

The solution was to zone the 12m x 7m space – go big, go bold, but do it with charm and clarity.

The stand had a large overhead framework and entrance branded Norebo, then split the design into two halves for Ocean Spirit and Glacialis product brands. The introduction of 500 ceramic hanging fish 7m in the air helped the stand to be spotted from far.

Glacialis Launch Giveaways...

Following the launch of the new identity for premium B2B brand Glacialis, we needed to celebrate and inform customers of the change and created a gift box replicating the new packaging design as an immediate nod to the rebrand. As this brand is the premium offer we adapted the boxes that we had created for sister company Ocean Spirit, to contain the new brand book, bespoke apron, unique pen set and a leather business card holder.

Ocean Spirit Launch Giveaway

Following the launch of the new identity for global fishing trawler business Ocean Spirit, we needed to inform customers of the change and created a gift box replicating the new packaging design as an immediate nod to the rebrand.

The box contained various branded items, included a brand book which tells the story of the rebrand, a keyring made from cork (which floats at sea) and branded pens – all beautifully finished off by being packaged within an elegant postal box, ensuring they arrived with customers in pristine condition.

To The Trains Featured in Computer Arts Magazine

Happy to share our recent coverage in Computers Arts showcasing the recent launch of the 4^th in our series of Noted notebooks. The Noted notebooks are a yearly collaborative project with Boss Print.

This year notebook ‘To the trains’ tells the story of the graphic history of the tile system within the London Underground.  We have had a really positive response to this year’s notebook, and we always find the first question is ‘what’s the next one about’. Noted notebooks are starting to build momentum among a core group of fans, and the collecting bug has spilled over into the actual notebook now.

This version can be purchased along with the others in the series using the link below.

How to build a strong brand from scratch

Some interesting contributions from our MD – Sarah Turner, on a recent article published  in The Guardian during April entitled ‘How to build a strong brand from scratch’.

Read Full Article Below

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Design does not come first:

It’s easy to focus solely on visual assets but a successful brand goes far beyond this. Many young companies feel the need fast-track the early stages of brand planning so that they can launch as soon as possible, bringing in revenue and additional funding. However, we often find that these companies have to undergo an intensive refresh or complete rebrand within the first couple of years as the brand outgrows its original identity.

Design does not come first. Vision, mission and purpose are the building blocks to any successful brand – this will inform the visual identity, not the other way around. Ask yourself what the ethos of the company is and allow this to guide what the brand looks and feels like. Your wider identity may change over time but it’s this core ethos that will attract and retain consumers.

Look beyond the logo:

There’s an assumption among many start-ups that having a strong name and logo is enough to ensure the success and longevity of a brand. This used to be true but as recently demonstrated by major brands such as F1, this is no longer the case.

With shifts in consumer engagement patterns – including the rise of social media – brands now have many more channels in which they require a presence and you need to consider how your identity will work across all touchpoints.

Play the long game:

This may sound obvious but it’s often overlooked. Consider where you want to be in the next five years and craft your brand accordingly, otherwise it won’t flex and grow with the business. Successful brands spend time considering these strategic planning points to set the foundations for a more stable brand identity. It’s easier – and cheaper – to set a solid base than to retrofit later.

There’s a common misconception with young companies that once a brand is created it’s final. This isn’t the case. Even larger, more established brands like Coca-Cola tweak their branding over time, but it’s the core purpose and mission that lays the foundation around which this brand will flex. Hence it’s so important to get this right from day one.

How would you change people’s perceptions on social drinking?

As our student awards scheme ‘Black Sheep’ enters its 4^th year in association with Norwich University of the Arts, we are pleased to announce the brief for this year centres on attitudes and awareness of social drinking. So ‘How would you change people’s perceptions on social drinking?’

We are looking for creativity with no boundaries and wanting the students to think like a Black Sheep – providing solutions that are truly individual.

Deadline: Friday 13th April

TicketyBrew gets a revamp to better suit their ever-expanding range of beers

Our relationship with the independent brewery, TicketyBrew, has grown alongside their business. Having produced the designs for the original core beers in 2013, the brand had quickly expanded to include more than 35 flavours and began to suffer from a series of tweaks to its overarching visual identity. We were asked to revisit the designs to bring a fresher new look to the packaging and help with range segmentation, stripping the brand back to a simplified identity with a more contemporary look and feel.

TicketyBrew expanded with a wide array of complex and experimental flavour profiles, including Blueberry & Ginger IPA, Peach Iced Tea and Salted Caramel & Coffee.

Our designs are aimed to reflect the vibrant flavour combination of both the core and limited edition ranges.

DBA Silver win for Nomadic Oat Clusters

The Different Dairy Company came to us with a challenging brief to effectively transform a complex company in need of direction. By responding to the rising consumer demand for convenience food, we injected clarity and wide appeal into the brand, making it relevant to modern lifestyles.

The rejuvenation of NOMADIC Oat Clusters – and repositioning of The Different Dairy Company as Nomadic Dairy – enabled the brand to exceed its two core objectives: to increase sales of NOMADIC Oat Clusters; and to establish NOMADIC as a quality food-on-the-go brand. It’s resulted in a 54% growth in 3 years.

Best Design Agency in London 2017

The quarterly luxury lifestyle magazine which showcases some of the world’s most internationally renowned brands and is read by a global audience has awarded us this year’s ‘Best Brand Design Agency in London’. We’re delighted to receive the award and to be amongst such prestigious company.

Bringing history to life for English Heritage's Handbook

We once again had the pleasure of working on the cover of this publication for English Heritage and where briefed to produce its official Handbook cover design for 2018.

This publication is the key piece produced by English Heritage each year and lists all its sites and activities that can be visited throughout the UK. The Handbook is sent to over 900,000 members yearly; 2018’s design needed to celebrate the centenary of English Heritage’s guardianship of Stonehenge.

On the front cover we depicted a daylight scheme, with the back of the book shown at night illustrating astronomical signs in a nod to the suggestion that Stonehenge was once used to gauge the time of year based on planetary movements; illustrated textures and patterns depict the grasses of the landscape; and the resident rooks that fly overhead. We worked closely with illustrator James Green, to incorporate elements of Stonehenge philosophies through the ages around a central visual of the standing stones.

Lets see what next year’s brief brings.