GR 604: Palm Rebrand - Book 02: The Visual Development Guide (Student Project)

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The Visual Development Guide 02 THE NATURE OF IDENTITY

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1. INTRODUCTION

What do we Bring to the Table?

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Keywords 14

2. INITIAL SKETCHES

Evolution of Palm

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Three Key Phrases

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Portable 22 Productivity 26 Connect 30

3. REFINED SKETCHES

Round One Sketches

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Logo Development 44 Round Two Sketches

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Round Three Sketches

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Black and White Logos

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Color Logos 64

4. UNDERSTANDING EXISTING WORK

Look-a-like Logos 74 Brand Manual Study

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New Logo 82 THE NATURE OF IDENTITY

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CH 1

INTRODUCTION 10

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Palm was the first popular handheld computer that bridged the gap between the electronic organizers and PCs. It was a popular household name then but it failed to reinvent itself to attract the attention of consumers in today’s market.

Rebranding of Palm’s identity is a crucial step and the first of many more to come.

We have outlined a new strategy that redefines the way Palm conducts business in the future. This Visual Development Guide will take you through the process of the new identity development and the do’s and dont’s of using the identity across various assets.

But before we do that, let’s take a look at how far we’ve come.

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WHAT DO WE BRING TO THE TABLE? Palm has provided solutions to make people’s lives easier over the years. After developing products for the PDA and smartphone arena, Palm is venturing deeper into the productivity space, by enabling people to gain more control over their work and personal lives. Palm’s ever evolving technology will combine the power of our 25+ years of experience and design that will work for our consumers’ daily needs. We are working hard to bring the power of information to the education, healthcare, community and security sector that will seamlessly work for professionals and families.

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KEYWORDS Our vision and mission is best expressed through these keywords.

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PORTABLE Palm was the first company that revolutionized hand-held devices for consumers by offering the technology that allows people to set up meetings, write notes, etc. all in a single device on-the go.

PRODUCTIVITY The devices and OS aim at solving day to day computing problems such as planning meetings, adding entries to the calendar, etc. for consumers instantly.

CONNECT The ultimate purpose of the brand is to shorten the communication gap between people and streamlining their tasks to maximize efficiency.

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Palm has evolved itself over the years to serve its customers in the best way possible. Hence our identity has also evolved with time.

Palm started as Palm Computing Platform under Jeff Hawkins in 1992 and currently is owned and operated by TCL Communications.

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Palm Computing Platform

Palm Inc.

PalmOne

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2005-2010

2010-2014

Palm, Inc.

HP Palm

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THREE KEY PHRASES To understand the message in a clearer way, we came up with keyphrases for each of the 3 keywords. These were then developed into camps which drove the initial sketching process.

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PORTABLE

Carry all of your work in the palm of your hand.

PRODUCTIVITY

Accomplish tasks and collaborate with people on the go.

CONNECT

Access and share the most important information from your fingertips within seconds.

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CH 2

INITIAL SKETCHES 20

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We started off with pencil sketches to capture our ideas on paper. Drawing by hand gives rise to organic shapes which otherwise seem too forced if directly done on the computer.

Ideas that had strength and showed more promise were taken forward for a round of refinement. The idea was to capture the essence and vision of the brand in a way that it was easily understood by our audience.

Each of our 3 keywords—Portable, Productivity and Connect had three camps under them which were graphic, wordmark and symbol. Following this process helped us coming up with a diverse range of options for the logo.

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PORTABLE Carry all of your work in the palm of your hand.

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Palm shown as a company that provides a variety of services and a helping hand to people around the world.

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A similar idea with a different hand approach.

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he idea of T a system of different elements all in control of the user in the palm of his hand.

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Brush stroke of the five fingers with a hairline sans serif logotype.

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A similar brush stroke approach with a thicker logotype stroke.

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PRODUCTIVITY Accomplish tasks and collaborate with people on the go.

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A holographic approach to the Palm to show advancements in the field of technology.

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A robotic hand grasping something to signify the importance of AI and futuristic technology.

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An abstract stick figure in the shape of a hand.

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A rigid cornered logo with heavy sans serif logotype that signifies stability.

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CONNECT Access and share the most important information from your fingertips within seconds.

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A soft logotype supported by a plug shaped abstract hand.

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Digits of a robotic hand supported by an elongated sans serif to signify a clean approach.

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Tiny dots to show a seamless connection.

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A cursive approach to show a never ending continuous connection.

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Stripes to signify connection within the shape of a palm.

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A check mark incorporated within the palm to signify being always organized, and on top of all your tasks.

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REFINED SKETCHES 36

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After discovering some interesting shapes and type combinations, we took some of the initial sketches forward to make them more refined and accurate. These sketches were chosen on the basis of their uniqueness, their relation to our brand’s ideals and its mission.

Similar to initial sketches, each keyword has a set of sketches that work for our brand. The successful options will be taken into logo development and for a final round of refinement.

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PRODUCTIVITY We tried experimenting with different ways of showing the human hand—the front, the back, and the folded.

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CONNECT To show connection, we tried showing bands in a wavy motion to show that information is being relayed seamlessly across different mediums.

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PORTABLE Overlapping different shapes and making them work together was the main idea behind showing the portable nature of our products. We played with the shape of a Palm by making it in straight lines vs. making it in brush strokes.

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LOGO DEVELOPMENT After brainstorming ideas for the first round of pencil sketches, we found success in the keywords Productivity and Connect. So we developed more sketches by combining those two ideas before moving on to the final detailing on the computer.

PRODUCTIVITY + CONNECT GRAPHIC SKETCHES

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A group of wires forming a palm to show connectivity.

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Logotype stacked next to a minimal board of circuits joined together to form a Palm.

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PRODUCTIVITY + CONNECT WORDMARK

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Bars that show connection and an angled thumb provides a good contrast next to a hairline sans serif.

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PRODUCTIVITY + CONNECT SYMBOL

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Involving the third dimension and playing with tones of blue.

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ROUND TWO SKETCHES (R2) We took some of the sketches that spoke to our company’s vision and refined them on the computer. Palm is redefining the way people can access the world at their fingertips. So we tried to strike a balance between technology and the human touch by ideating around the five fingers. We also tried to enter the third dimension by playing with the letter P and using colors that could suggest technological advances.

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ROUND THREE SKETCHES (R3) We started off with pencil sketches to capture our ideas on paper and finally refined the successful ones on the computer. A lot of new details emerged which helped us in removing the ideas that weren’t working.

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BLACK AND WHITE LOGOS We found these three sketches to be the most successful out of all of options because of their ability to convey our mission in the simplest way and form possible.

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COLOR LOGOS As a tech company, to invoke trust and show advancement through the logo, we opted for cool toned colors and sans serif typefaces.

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COLOR LOGOS

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P 121-6 C C 70 M 0 Y 20 K 0

R 0 G 190 B 205

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P 108-7 C C 85 M 45 Y 0 K 40 THE NATURE OF IDENTITY

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UNDERSTANDING EXISTING WORK 72

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Researching on what’s already out there helps us in understanding how to successfully deliver information to our users so there is maximum clarity.

Before we finalised the logo, we took a look at what logos already exist out there in the real world which have similarities to our logo. This step is taken to ensure we don’t get confused with other companies and their brand identities.

After studying look-a-like logos, we will look at brand manuals that exist in the world today. Many brand manuals offer an interesting insight into the breadth of material that should be covered so that there’s enough clarity and least possibility of error from the people who use our assets for their work.

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1. Google Podcasts A logo for an e-inviting service by Roko Kerovec. The four fingers of the hand are similar to the rounded fingers of the Palm logo 2. TE Connectivity A world leader in connectivity and sensors. The lines are similar to the streamline hand shape of the Palm logo.

3. Netskope This logo has gears in connection which reminds us of the similar wire treatment in our logo.

4. Plause This logo has a rounded hand look similar to ours.

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6. Westinghouse American manufacturing and nuclear power company.

The connecting of circuits is similar to that of our logo.

7. Cisco The rounded lines of the Golden Gate Bridge are similar to the forward backward motion of the lines in our logo.

8. Makeable The checkmark in this logo reminds us of the thumb and index finger mark that our logo makes.

9. Squarespace The repeating lines are similar to our logo.

10. FastoMatic The circuit lines are similar to our logo.

5. Altapp The joined thumb and pinky finger have a similar treatment like our logo.

LOOK-A-LIKE LOGOS

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11. Care India The hand comes a bit close to our logo.

16. Ericsson Diagonal rounded lines are common with our logo.

12. The Rehab Lab The organic shape of the hand is similar to our logo.

17. Segasec The wire pattern reminds us of our logo.

13. Autism logo The rounded curves remind us of rounded shapes from our logo.

18. Recorded Future Rounded lines are similar to our logo.

14. Paris Aeroport The Eiffel Tower has lines descending in size from the centre which is a little common with our hand symbol 15. Springnet The forward/backward motion is similar to our logo.

19. Wirecutter Diagonal round cornered lines are common with our logo.

20. IBM Security Rounded lines are similar to our logo.

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BRAND MANUAL STUDY 1. New Identity Introduction

SKYPE A happy, inviting message that puts you in a good mood and eager to read what’s about to come next.

2. Logo Anatomy

MTRL The logo anatomy helps in identifying the angle of the forward slash, distance between each character and their sizes.

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3. Type Specs

USA TODAY USA Today shows type specifications for screen and print use by putting them on a mockup of a laptop to make it instantly clear.

4. Logo Colors

DEUTSCHE BANK Deutsche Bank has 72 acceptable logo colors, which makes it easier to place them on a breadth of colored backgrounds and assets.

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5. Logo Don’ts

(RED) The don’ts are very clearly stated and every small change in graphic elements is highlighted to avoid the smallest of mistakes.

6. Alternate Versions of the Logo

GAP, INC. Having a variety of logos helps in conducting oneself uniquely in different environments.

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7. Color Combinations

BOEING Boeing has a vivid color palette with a variety of color combinations for its covers that also complement the flow line patterns.

8. Product Placements

(RED) (RED) manages to use its signature color and identity to grab attention by placing it in eye catching positions on different products.

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NEW LOGO Our new logo signifies seamless connections, faster tasks and accessibility for everyone. Wherever you go, Palm helps you stay connected on-the-go and at the top of your game.

The logo represents an abstract shape of a Palm. The thumb and index finger are joined to make a check mark to signify the can-do attitude of facing challenges and overcoming them. The color of the logo conveys trust and represents our technological advancements in the fields of business, medicine, community and security.

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THE NEXT STEP 84

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The new Palm has evolved from being a mobile manufacturing company to a company that makes people feel more connected, empowered and in control of their lives.

The next phase is The Visual Standards Guide which will expand more on what role our company will play in the future and how our users can be a part of it.

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Unsplash https://www.company-histories.com/Palm-Inc-Company-History.html https://medium.com/@AlbertoSavoia/the-palm-pilot-story1a3424d2ffe4 https://www.fastcompany.com/90246716/palms-progress-the-risefall-and-rebirth-of-a-legendary-brand

SOURCES 86

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All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any forms or means without the prior permission of the author. This is a student project meant for educational purposes only and does not represent the Palm brand.

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