The Design thinking behind Signal’s Logo-refresh
June 17, 2020 | By Nikiforos Kollaros, Design Manager, Signal
Logos are the graphic extension of the internal realities of a company. — Saul Bass
In this brief story, I want to tell you about the design rationale that stands behind this new visual expression of our company.
As our company has matured and grown, we recently realized that we were becoming known within the shipping and technology communities as simply “Signal” (and not as The Signal Group or as the group of companies that comprise it). We decided to create a “wordmark” that would reflect the values of the company and also incorporate the word Signal.
A wordmark is usually a distinct text-only typographic treatment of the name of a company used to create a clear, visually memorable identity.
Why change a strong logo?
At Signal, we’re relentlessly innovative. Everything we do is propelled by a spirit of continuously striving to optimize whatever we make. We’re accustomed to taking something great and making it even better.
The New Concept
With our new visual identity, we wanted to imagine a visual representation of the ways that Signal’s offerings — and Signal as a company — continues to serve as a sophisticated instrument that helps our clients guide themselves through the overwhelming and non-standard oceans of data that characterize the commercial Shipping Industry.
We had three key goals in mind. We wanted to create a wordmark that would:
- Be memorable
- Be simple
- Make reference to the spirit of advances in the maritime world and in technology
After a lot of research and experimentation, we turned to tradition. History was our guide.
We decided to combine 2 concepts. The first was an instrument that helped sailors navigate in the sea. It allowed the sailors to use the myriad stars to plot their course: the sextant.
And the second element was the company’s focus on algorithms and math. Geometry was the obvious choice. We used a geometric font (Neutraface) with elegant and harmonious design as a base and started tweaking the characters to match our style and needs.
We decided to combine the sextant and letter A from Signal to create a new memorable wordmark.
We created a new letter out of those two elements always based on geometric principles and the concept “form follows function”
When we completed the creation of the new letter we assembled the new wordmark to see if we had achieved a visual identity that advanced our goals.
Color
As a color, we used a darker shade of Navy blue. Navy blue was first used after British Royal Navy officers wore uniforms in the color in 1748. Navy blue is quite the versatile color, pairing wonderfully with different shades and tints of greens, oranges, reds, yellows, and even purples. Because of its roots, the color is easily reminiscent of the deep, blue ocean and space.
This is not the end, this is just a start. We hope to continue the journey for a long time, and we’re excited to share more of what we’re doing along the way.
If you are shipping professional and interested in joining us, request a demo from our website and one member from our team will contact you as soon as possible.
Bonus
If you are interested in working on complex data-driven problems that impact the real world, apply for one of Signal’s open positions.
