Evernote Rebranded to Redefine its Essence
Sometimes reworking on just a few elements of the already existing package of multiple things and leaving the rest as they are proves to be successful. DesignStudio used a similar theory to rebrand Evernote as a brand.
Brief
Evernote was launched in 2008 as a way to remember everything from anywhere. In the lead-up to its ten-year anniversary, the company embarked on a mission to reposition itself from a note-taking app and more clearly reflect what the company does today-helping people manage information overload and find their focus.
DesignStudio were brought in to develop the brand strategy and a visual ID system to bring this to life.
Solution
DesignStudio partnered closely with the Evernote team to develop a brand purpose, helping Evernote and its users to focus on what matters most.
Starting with an exploration of the logo and wordmark, they developed a fresh, energetic and modern visual system to bring the positioning to life. Also, a brand video was developed for a company-wide brand reveal as part of Evernote's ten-year anniversary.
The Foundation
It all started with the logo, an elephant (affectionately named Mads, after Evernote's first paying customer). An elephant is thought to "never forget", representing the company's original mission, and over the years had developed equity with Evernote users. Launching a wide-ranged exploration of elephant logos, from the elaborate to the deconstructed, was a great help in determining that Mads needed more evolution than revolution.
The Evolution
Mads, the elephant, was evolved with more rigorous geometry, unified shapes, curves, and a trunk composed of a spiral, a shape that represents progress. Mads was then paired with a new wordmark comprised of initial case serif typography, with an editorial feel that nods to Evernote as a writing tool and its founder, Stepan Pachikov, and his belief in the importance of the written word.
The overall effect is optimistic, clever, confident and clear, more trustworthy than trendy.
Bringing It to Life
A fresh, modern and clean colour palette was developed to evolve the brand's heritage green, vibrant chartreuse and black and to create a visual system that prominently featured bold graphic illustration and typography.
The illustrations communicate the idea of focus by organizing disparate information and inputs, represented by colour blocks and patterns. The illustrations were then scaled from complex, large-scale marketing messages to smaller product illustrations and a system of iconography.
Conclusion
DesignStudio created the new Evernote brand to tell a story of how the organization allows people to focus on what matters most.
Evernote is loved by a devout user base, so care was taken to retain the spirit and charm of what existed, while evolving the brand to appeal to a broader audience.
The new visual system echoes the brand DNA of Optimistic, Clever, Confident and Clear. Bold colours, pithy language, and a modern illustrative and photography approach work together to create a brand system that's cohesive and decisively Evernote.
