Boldly, Premium Subscription Staffing for Business. 2018 identity redesign.

The Challenge

Worldwide101 (previous name) has been the market leader in the Virtual Assistant space for many years. Back in 2018, as part of their goal to continually innovate, lead the industry, and appeal to customers at larger companies, they changed the way of speaking about what they do from “virtual assistants” to “premium subscription staffing”. And the next step in that evolution is changing the company name from Worldwide101 to Boldly. 

I helped Worldwide101 to evolve towards their brand new name and identity and embrace their new missions and visions for a better online experience for their users. 

My Approach

Firstly I always have much contact with my clients about the company, people, and what they want to solve with a potential new logo. I always find it important to know the people first so I can find solutions that connect not only with the consumers but also with the people who work there. I often start with my research and understand what their current market looks like and if there may be any competitors involved. During the project, I created many potential concepts and talk these through with my client and we’ve been growing towards a perfect mark that captures all their visions and missions and still keeps it human and appropriate.

I'm so passionate when it comes to kicking off a new project and discovering potential directions which may be a perfect suit. Sketching out rough ideas and browsing the internet (and books) to help find that spark for new inspiration.

Visual Identity

Due to the change of naming of the company we also had to rethink the meaning of the new name Boldly. I’ve been doing research on the company and laid down their plans to evolve their business for the next years. It was key that they wanted a suitable logo for their new name and ideas such as humanity, friendliness, handshake, the connection was highlighted at the very start of the project to focus on. It needed to embody the name and also keep in mind what Boldy provides with its services. I often focus on a mark first. Once the mark is perfect there is time to find a complimentary typography choice that embraces the whole visual identity. Colors, typography were all cleverly combined to make a perfect match that holds all the energy and joy that the people at Boldly bring to their audience and consumers.

Several high potential marks were invented and closely discussed with my client. I find it important to always stay on the same page but keep room for creativity and bring in the WOW-factor to my designs. 

Revisions

At this stage, my client decided to go with a specific concept. It had almost everything they were looking for but only needed some subtle tweaks to make it work more fluently. After some conversations with my client, we had a clear idea of how this could be improved without losing too much of the initial concept. The client asked me to focus on more friendly forms, warm and vivid colors, and also make the mark just slightly better balanced. I got back to my illustrator and looked at how this concept could be improved without losing the vibe and connection it forms.

Typography

When it comes to choosing the right typography for a logo, I often focus on what I want to achieve with it. I always look for a font that complements a logo mark. To keep things visually balanced and technically correct, I tend to go with clean and strong-looking fonts. Sometimes I adjust the font to make it fit the identity better. My client already had a strong connection with the Hurme font and so I followed his wishes and made it work perfectly with the already designed mark. Hurme is also one of my personal favorites so that was a nice little extra.

“Jeroen was a pleasure to work with, both in terms of the great skills that he brought to our logo design project and his friendly, can-do attitude.  Jeroen came up with some early concepts which showed real originality and creativity even though they weren't yet "the one" and then he nailed it with a design that we hadn't even imagined - for me that's what I like about working with a great designer is when they surprise you beyond expectations. I highly recommend Jeroen.”  

Matthew Criticos, Co-founder & Technical Director at Boldly, A Premium Subscription Staffing Company.

Animation done by @Alex Gorbunov