Branding a people consultancy that shifts beliefs around play

Brand research

The Playfilled team came prepared to our branding process. They already had the brand name and an ambitious, exciting vision for the company.

A key element of the research phase was empathising with the target audience. We came to understand that business leaders’ challenges often revolve around resilience, innovation, motivation and wellbeing.

We also dissected the brands of organisational design, business transformation and people consultancies to find ways to differentiate Playfilled.

Brand strategy

We defined the core purpose, brand values and personality through collaborative workshops.

Our aim was to create a brand identity that goes beyond fueling a business consultancy. It needed to align with the founders’ bold plan to inspire a movement around purposeful play. The Playfilled team was very engaged with our process and contributed many ideas. We helped distill their thoughts into a coherent brand strategy.

Brand purpose

The founders’ personal experiences of working in the demanding yet unfulfilling corporate world drove them to start Playfilled. They have a deep desire to reimagine the experience of work, fix broken systems and shift beliefs around play. This is captured in their brand purpose: We heal the world by unlocking the power of play.

Brand design

The design had to avoid visual clichés that people already associate with play. It needed to truly differentiate.

We gathered visual inspirations and generated concepts for the visual brand. Playfilled then summed up their requirements in a design brief. We had to aim for a subtle form of playfulness, which also conveyed substance.

Logo design

We explored many logo concepts. Traditional design approaches didn’t feel right because any specific logo mark would have conveyed a singular view of play. We needed to break some rules to match the daring, experimental nature of Playfilled. The final logo design:

• Represents resilience and evolution by being dynamic and able to change,
• Captures the idea that play means something different for everyone,
• Expresses playfulness without being childish,
• Features interlocking, elongated letters to imply collaboration and journey,
• Creates space for the word ‘filled’ within the word ‘play’, alluding to Playfilled facilitating a safe environment for self-discovery.

Visual identity

The flexible logo is integral to the visual identity. The word mark can take many forms and can be used for different artworks and patterns. When its shapes are stretched, they create a sense of movement. The word ‘play’ can act as a frame for content and images. The logo also lends itself to animation, which will be key as the brand expands.

We picked a clear font that compliments the logo’s custom type design without distracting from it. The colour palette avoids bright, primary colours that are typically associated with children and play.

Brand implementation

We designed a range of branded items to help Playfilled launch quickly: logo assets, e-signatures, stationery, website, social media profiles, brand guidelines, icons, animations.

Typography, colours, icons, illustrations, layouts and other design elements all come together cohesively on Playfilled’s website. Designing it helped us flesh out the visual identity. We also developed a simple human icon to emphasise the people-centric aspect of Playfilled’s services.

Brand messages

We needed to carefully articulate the value play can deliver to organisations and individuals without sounding too sciency or lofty. The language had to be inviting, insightful and a little bit cheeky to reflect the brand’s personality.

Campaign website

To help Playfilled launch a crowdfunding campaign, we built a fresh landing page. We used Webflow to go from concept to launch in a matter of weeks.

Brand guidelines

We wrapped the first round of brand sprints up by producing a brand book. It captures the brand identity and essential rules for the visual identity. It’s a document that is meant to evolve as we build out the brand. We continue to assist Playfilled through branding as they work to fulfill their mission.