(Rebrand · Brand Guidelines)

Purple Squirrel

A new identity for an executive search firm, built around a squirrel that sits in the negative space of its own tail.

The problem

Purple Squirrel finds senior executives for corporate clients, and its logo was a cartoon squirrel in glasses carrying a briefcase.

The mascot was friendly, but it belonged to a smaller and more casual company than the one Purple Squirrel had become. Its glasses and briefcase lost their detail at small sizes, and a board hiring a chief executive was unlikely to take the firm seriously on first sight of it.

Client: Purple Squirrel
Services: Rebrand, Logo design, Brand guidelines
Timeline: 7 weeks

The brief

Keep the squirrel, and give it the polish of a firm that places executives.

Approachable and professionalThe client described the brand as approachable, professional, elegant and sleek. The mark had to carry all four at once.

Show a different modelPurple Squirrel bills by the hour with no placement commission, and delivers three to five vetted candidates in under thirty days. Buyers who have never run an executive search should see that confidence at first glance.

Work at any sizeOne mark for a lanyard, a billboard and a 160-pixel website header, in a palette the client had already chosen.

(The approach)

How we found the answer.

Discovery and style direction

Weeks 1–2

The client sent their brand information and answered a short questionnaire on personality. We then showed three style directions for the logomark: classical and detailed, a reduced heraldic line style, and an ultra-minimal geometric one. The brief was to look modern while staying elegant and established, so we recommended the middle style, with one option from the third as a contrast.

Logomark

Weeks 2–5

We drew three squirrels. One was a folded, line-art figure, one an angular geometric shape, and one a soft form that places the squirrel in the negative space of its own tail. The client's team reviewed them together and chose the third. It was the roundest and warmest of the set, it read clearly at small sizes, and the tail wrapping around the animal gave the firm a sense of care that the other two lacked. We then smoothed the curves and tuned the proportions.

Guidelines and applications

Weeks 5–7

The client's plum, magenta, indigo and beige became a primary palette with three greys behind it. Lufga Medium sets headings and Lufga Regular sets text. We built lockups and six colour pairings, set the clear space and a 160-pixel minimum width, and delivered the whole thing as a 14-page guideline with mockups of cards, posters, badges and signage.

The result

A soft, confident mark that keeps the squirrel, wraps it in its own tail and holds up from a badge to a billboard.

“Aidar was a pleasure to work with. He gave timely feedback and constantly checked in regarding communication and expectations. He exceeded expectations with his design and logo guide. Thank you for your help and amazing work!”
Shannon Geyser, Purple Squirrel · 5.0 / 5 on Upwork

Window bannersThe plum and magenta pairings at street scale, with the tail mark cropped large behind the headline.

Hanging signThe vertical lockup on a wall-mounted sign, where the mark has to read from across a street.

BadgesThe icon-mark on its own, at a size where the squirrel has to stay recognisable.

Business cardsThe plum and indigo colourways on card stock, with the white lockup.

Website conceptA homepage concept built from the same palette and Lufga, shown as a mockup.

Next projectThe Human Experience Co.

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