Shopgate Brand
Brand redesign for retail technology startup
2018
Challenge: Shopgate needed a brand refresh — a new logo and adjusted aesthetic to cater to a new larger, more sophisticated market — something to support our rapidly evolving platform and solutions in the mid-market/enterprise technology space.
Solution: Evolve the current brand—take advantage of our brand legacy as mobile innovators, but shift towards a cleaner, more modern aesthetic.
Role: I functioned as the Design Lead and Art Director, leading the visual brand development and executing the role out.
Process
Requirement gathering & stakeholder interviews
Visual brand workshop & research
Concept presentations
Iterative design executions
Strategic rollout and updates
Strategy & Execution
When updating the logotype, my goal was to move away from the more overtly ‘tech’ or industrial feeling font to a more geometric, open and flexible logotype—something that is fresh and modern without being overly stylized.
The first step was to extend and evolve the current icon (previously a shopping bag/mobile phone hybrid). I simplified this mobile device to an abstract frame—a nod to the increasingly simple shapes of modern mobile devices. Then I wove that ‘frame’ into another to create a simple unique icon that communicates both mobility and connection. This second mobile frame shape allowed us to add secondary color offering our company greater flexibility in our visual brand. I interpret this icon as an intersection of new mobile possibilities: our open mobile platform intersecting with other best-in-class technologies to create unparalleled mobile experiences.
We originally had intended on rebranding as Shopgate Connect or Connect by Shopgate to tie in better with our revamped software solution, so naturally, the majority of the brand development was centered around those ideas. After workshop sessions and stakeholder feedback rounds, we decided to stick with Shopgate as the company name, but use and adapt some of the design choices made during development for the updated logo.
Final Logo Selection
A few of the pages of the Shopgate brand guidelines.
Design System
As I developed the brand, I also built out a component system in Figma or reusable designed elements for a streamlined and consistent design process. The component system includes the simple building blocks of our brand, like font styles and colors, as well as more robust, fleshed out web components for designing desktop and mobile. These components are contained and displayed within our brand guideline file, so all aspects of the brand are readily available and visibly connected.
This page displays a preview of the components, or reusable web design elements and how to access them within the file.
Updated Brand and Design System in Action
With a centralized guidebook and component library, we were able to easily create consistent and cohesive designs for launch. Below is a sampling of designs utilizing our updated design system.
We found many opportunities to update the content, flow and design of certain pages as we rolled out the new design system. In the case above, the design team was instrumental in reimagining the way we showcase our top clients.
