Strategic HR decision-making
The SaaS startup HRBench gives HR professionals a holistic view of their workforce by combining data across disparate systems with best-in-class metrics.
HRBench offers a unified, comprehensive picture of detailed internal workforce metrics as well as external benchmark data for in-depth analysis, enabling constant improvements via remediation recommendations. Looking to announce their company launch, they approached us to create engaging branding to communicate a quick, innovative, and passionate company. Their brand identity should be applied to their website and the UI design system of their platform.
Concept & Strategy
For the branding of an HR tech startup, finding the right balance between technology and people is crucial. Also, the combination of internal workforce analytics and external benchmark data should be reflected in the visual identity as one of the principal features of the tech startup. With their branding goals in mind, we developed a strategy to fit each and every of their brand application touchpoints, establishing harmony between the brand elements and ensuring brand consistency. One of the major challenges of the project was the technology page: When we kicked off the project, HRBench was still in the process of developing their platform. Therefore, we needed to unleash our creativity and represent product sneak peeks with simplified and abstract UI screens.
Logo
Creating an imagotype for HRBench was the ideal solution to address the complexity of the company name and multitude of touchpoints. Composed of geometrical shapes, the isotype is not only the combination of the letters “HRB”, but also conveys the insights gained from analyzing people data. It is a unique, powerful brand asset that serves as a distinctive element and can be used with the lettering or can also stand alone. At a typographical level, the stroke of the isotype harmonizes with the custom font. The use of a sans-serif typeface accentuates the innovative aspect of the brand and the “e” and the “c” are inclined to evoke a notion of movement and improvement.
Colors
We needed to establish a range of colors with various tints, which would clearly differentiate from one another and still reflect HRBench's brand: Harmony Blue was chosen as the primary shade, and Gentle Pink, Craft Yellow, and Vital Red were chosen as secondary hues. This combination helps reflect the techie and innovative yet human aspects of the brand. For the UI design system, we developed a series of additional shades.
Typography
We use Poppins as the single typeface. The geometric sans serif is one of the most popular fonts for web and application use due to its high legibility and versatility. It is based on pure geometry, particularly circles. Each letterform is nearly monolinear, with optical corrections where necessary to maintain an even typographic color. The clear and modern letters communicate a tech brand with a high degree of usability.
Illustration
To explain the platform's major features, we crafted branded illustrations, with the highlight being an animation depicting the seamless implementation of HRBench. Simple and straightforward UI screens with subtle shades of the color palette help communicate the benefits of the product, presenting KPIs and the most important metrics of the clients.
Website
For the website, we developed a concept that blends humans, iconography, and animated illustrations within the HRBench color palette. With its clear structure, it is straightforward enough to be easy to grasp and innovative enough to communicate a quick and modern business. This should also be reflected in the verbal identity. For this purpose, when drafting the website copy, we had in mind the brand personality and the goal of communicating an approachable, yet professional company. The last step was the development of a fast, responsive, and user-centric website for the tech startup. With the launch of their website, HRBench is now ready to make their mark in the HR tech sector.
UX / UI
As HRBench's new brand identity needs to be applied to all possible touchpoints, including their product, we ensured brand consistency during the strategic branding process. Hence, we leveraged the previously defined color palette and shapes to add supplementary gradients, buttons, and illustrative icons for optimized implementation possibilities. Additionally, we crafted an initial design of the HRBench dashboard with notification layouts, cards, and responsive design for desktop and mobile use. This branded UI design system will help the startup raise brand recognition.
Communication
In order to make an impression on their target audience, HRBench needed sales and marketing collateral in line with their new branding. For this purpose, we created a presentation template, crafted their sales sheet including appealing copy, and designed several brand assets for their social media profiles. Leveraging the custom-made illustrations and the previously defined brand application guidelines, brand consistency and activation are made easy. Additionally, we crafted an initial design of the HRBench dashboard with notification layouts, cards, and responsive design for desktop and mobile use. This branded UI design system will help the startup raise brand recognition.
"The diversity of their expertise is impressive."
Across the board from project managers, executive leadership, to the design and website teams, they have a well-rounded group of experts to cover everything we needed. They were really great to work with.
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