Sovato

After a kickoff call and a review of the client's brand materials, we set a direction: minimal, geometric shapes with an architectural edge, drawn abstractly from surgical robot arms and from words like converging technology, forward motion and spanning distance. We drew six logomarks, from a layered robot-arm mark to several S monograms. The client liked the first, fourth and sixth, thought the first too intense (a few colleagues saw seaweed), and asked for something more sophisticated.

We read the feedback as a wish for less industrial and less masculine, and more elegant. We rethought the first concept as two new marks, softened the fourth and sixth, and tested the client's palette. Only complementary shades worked well together, so we advised against mixing colours inside the mark. On request we made white-background versions and mockups for a deck, letterhead and email signature, so the team could judge them in use. The client chose the last option, a compact monogram of two interlocking halves, for being modern and simple.

Asked to pick a typeface, we recommended Termina over Montserrat, which the client had grown fond of. Termina reads as technical and engineered, while Montserrat is overused. The client agreed. We tested a contrasting teal highlight inside the mark, and the client kept a single colour. We also found that some of the client's brand colour codes did not match their RGB values, and corrected them. Final files went out on 5 May in RGB and CMYK, with sources.