Brand refresh to
help every Thing
communicate

Exploring the IoT space

We have worked with Pycom for many years, and as with all brands, they constantly evolve. After a new collaboration with muRata, one of the world’s largest electronics manufacturers, it shifted the target audience and its offering. We needed to communicate with enterprise clients and cover more of the IoT journey. As part of our explore phase, we benchmarked competitors and interviewed stakeholders to understand the audience and how their technology benefits the IoT ecosystem.

Developing a design system

Based on the brand strategy and research, we explored design options that were bold, stand-out and flexible. The brief was to simplify the identity and be confident in the fast-moving IoT world. We stripped back the original design and illustration style and developed an animated supergraphic to encompass their vision for ‘every Thing communicates’. At the centre of the supergraphic was their PY symbol. Pycom didn’t want to lose its original logo mark completely as they have moved from being a start-up to an established technology brand, so we integrated its PY symbol into the design system. By rounding the symbol, we gave it a more refined feel. We used the shape to mask real work applications.

We chose the sans serif typeface Sora, meaning sky in Japanese. The large X height makes it the perfect font for app and web interfaces where clarity and effectiveness at any size are imperative.

By simplifying the colour palette, it is easier to use and made it more recognisable. The black and white represent the underlying Python code. And green and purple, taken from the original brand, as a gradient to communicate the blend of all their technologies and services.

We summarised our design thinking in an easy-to-use brand guideline that housed the strategy alongside example applications of the new visual identity.

Website design

The central touch point for Pycom is its website. We reviewed the website’s architecture to evolve it to the brand’s new positioning and to create a clear, streamlined user experience. We focussed on their portfolio of products and created a suite of iconography and an interactive representation of their ‘stack’ to clarify their offering. In contrast to the technology, real-life photography was used to represent solutions through case study pages. Pricing was made clear and the shop was integrated seamlessly into the user journey.

Rollout

We applied the design system across several key application areas, from Hackathon signage to bags, packaging and banner ads. The team were thrilled. It was easy to apply and gave a consistent and recognisable look across digital and printed applications.