Zark

Illustration

Strategy, positioning and brand identity for a security platform in Web3.

Zark

Beyond Identity Privacy

SCOPE OF WORK

Brand Strategy and Positioning

Brand Identity

Branding

Illustration

Key Visuals

Brand Manual

Creative Direction

INTRODUCTION

Zark, a pioneering force in digital identity protection, sought to establish a brand identity that resonated with a broad audience while accurately reflecting its core values. This article delves deeper into the design process, culminating in creating Zark’s distinctive brand identity.

Before embarking on the design phase, a comprehensive understanding of Zark’s brand essence was essential. The company’s mission to empower individuals with control over their data privacy was the foundation for the brand’s personality. Zark was envisioned as a confident, witty, and honest companion in the digital space, offering users security and trust.

The carefully selected color palette of blue, green, and magenta was instrumental in conveying Zark’s brand identity. Blue symbolizes trust and reliability, often associated with technology. Green represents growth, security, and harmony, reflecting Zark’s commitment to user well-being. Magenta adds a touch of playfulness and innovation, aligning with the brand’s witty personality.

The decision to use the company name “Zark” as the logo was strategic. It emphasizes the brand’s unique identity and reinforces its simplicity. The logo’s clean and modern typography reflects Zark’s commitment to user-centric design. This also intuitively shows that Zark is for everyone on the internet.

To link the digital world to the physical world, we decided to create a mascot. The Zarks are small, soft, pink creatures with spherical bodies inspired by Hayao Miyazaki’s dust sprites. Their mode of transportation is levitating/hovering and their special ability is to activate protection mode by extending their swirly arms and legs to shield private data. They operate as a group to protect your identity and they each have a different personality.

Their playful and carefree demeanor embodies the idea of digital freedom and security. The mascots’ dynamic illustrations symbolize the ever-evolving nature of the digital landscape and Zark’s ability to navigate it easily. With data privacy intact, the mascots continue with their fun-filled activities.

Understanding the target audience was crucial for tailoring the brand messaging effectively. Zark’s primary audience comprises individuals concerned about their online privacy and security. The brand messaging focused on empowering users to take control of their digital lives, emphasizing the benefits of using Zark’s services to protect personal information.

To ensure a cohesive brand experience, guidelines were developed for using the brand elements across all touchpoints. These guidelines covered everything from color usage and typography to imagery and tone of voice. Consistently applying these guidelines helped reinforce Zark’s brand identity and build recognition.

We provided Zark with multiple brandmark variations. This allows for a more adaptive application of the branding assets and complements the company’s playful persona. Along with the variations, we also provided guidelines on branding misuse to maintain the branding’s integrity amidst the dynamic application.

Modern and warm, the new brand identity of Zark communicates exuberating energy that stands out in the corporate visual landscape in the tech industry.

"I enjoyed working with The Backbone team and loved their output! They made a very awesome brand identity and a very cool character for Zark. "

Christian Besler, Co-founder of The Node Group

Special Thanks

Case study write-up by Dale Jo

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SM Seaside City Cebu

Illustration

Graphic design, illustration and design support for one of the largest retail chain in the Philippines.

SM Seaside Cebu

SM Wonderland

SCOPE OF WORK

Key Visuals
Campaign
Illustration
Design Support

INTRODUCTION

SM Supermalls is one of the biggest chains of malls in the Philippines. Given that their malls are household names and the go-to for most Filipinos, SM continuously generates themes, events, and activities aimed at families and the public. As the Philippines’s most popular mall, our client aims to provide family fun experiences daily to improve the quality of life for all in a socially responsible and environmentally sustainable way.

Our collaboration with SM allowed us to make key visuals for their marketing events and promotions. Our goal is to create fun, nature and family-centric themed illustrations that align with the SM Supermall branding.

We started by developing illustrations for SM Seaside Cebu’s upcoming project to redirect the brand and the mall to a nature adventure theme. Based on our briefings with the brand marketing team, there was an emphasis on “family-friendly” and “all-around” designs intended to resonate with their customers. The SM Seaside Marketing Team provided digital and visual assets, which were approved to be part of the project beforehand, as a reference.

The first assets we created followed the theme of mystical nature adventure. We designed new illustrations to resemble and enhance their current assets that were carried over from the previous theme. Outputs of this project were shown as digital collaterals (social media posts and banners) and print media (posters, signages, arches, and window prints) that are exhibited around the mall.

In line with the idea of a family-friendly aesthetic, the illustration had a children’s morning show style that was attractive to a much younger audience and appreciated by different ages. We incorporated shades of blue into our designs to match SM Supermall’s iconic brand color and central palette in their establishments.

After the successful design support, they reached out for a bolder task of creating illustrations for SM Seaside’s Cinderella Staircase.

The curved staircases connecting circular levels flowed, imitating a small body of water. Following the same principles and art style, we designed a waterfall illustration that curves and flows perfectly as the mall’s staircase shape.

The SM Seaside Design Team was able to change the colors of the waterfall illustrations to match the mall’s navigation system.

It is a standard operating procedure in large-scale corporate systems that approval of designs and copies requires specific levels before launch. Considering their internal system and SOPs for external project engagements, we designed our graphic and illustration assets to be easy to use so the SM Seaside Design Team can freely adjust any changes when needed.

The SM Seaside Cebu‘s Marketing team has been able to build new collaterals independently such as posters, signages, social media posts, and wallpapers, based on the graphic and illustration assets we created for them. This has allowed us to continue and expand our collaboration to support marketing key visuals and collaterals for “Dinotopia” and “SM Wonderland” themes.

Since 2022, we have continuously collaborated with SM Seaside Cebu in creating illustrations, graphic design, and branding projects for their events, spaces, and promotions.

"Designs and final outcome were commended by upper management and VIPs from HO."

Nicole Jasmine Gonzales, Marketing Manager, SM Seaside Cebu