Case Study: CloudSpot. Logo Redesign for Photographers Gallery
We were lucky to work with a client who set strategic goals for brand development. His vision was not limited to making a logo and updating the design. He was sincerely committed to helping his users succeed. This is what drove further improvement of the brand: a successful redesign, standing out from competitors while maintaining recognition, and a significant increase in the audience.
This case shows what redesigning means for a brand, how small changes can deliver big payoffs, and how important it is to plan for the future in order to succeed in the present.
Client
CloudSpot is a free client gallery for photographers. The easiest way for photographers to deliver and sell their photos online, interact with their clients, and develop their business.
Client’s goals
Expanding photographers’ capabilities to help them achieve professional success. In the long term, becoming the only instrument a photographer needs for their business.
Importantly, the client’s long-term goal answers the needs of the users. Photographers would prefer to use a single platform that has all the necessary functions and methods of interaction, giving them quick access to all the necessary materials and services.
“We are passionate about helping fellow photographers be successful in their businesses and creating solutions that give them more time to be doing what they love most!”
The goals stated above mean that the company is growing and developing. It strives to remain cutting-edge and stylish; it wants to show the users that it cares about them, monitors their tastes and trends, and updates its design to stay relevant.
Project
The task: a soft brand redesign with no drastic changes, since the brand already has market recognition. Creating a clear visual structure and integrity. Adapting the brand to clean, artistic, minimalist colors and fonts. Updating the logo to a more contemporary style while retaining recognizability and color palette as much as possible.
Target audience
Photographers, mostly women aged 20–33, who are launching their own photo business. They shoot weddings, portraits, and families. They want to turn their hobby into a profession. They have their own website and wish to save time by using tools and platforms that will promote their brand and help them earn more. The sophistication, elegant style, and aesthetics of the galleries are of paramount importance to them as a reflection of their brand. They care about the platform’s visual appearance, ease of use, and recommendations from fellow photographers in Facebook groups.
The target audience also includes people interested in event photography.
1. Logo: problem & solution
The color palette of our client’s brand (aquamarine) was copied by a major competitor, which deprived the brand of its original uniqueness. It was necessary to find a solution that would help stand out visually but retain recognition as much as possible.
The old logo also had an outdated font. There was a visual imbalance between the icon and the font.
The first step was to update the icon. Here you can see the process of searching for different directions.
These are iterations that were in some ways appealing to the client, but after discussing them we settled on a minimal update of the icon. We replaced the rounded edges with sharp ones and made the color cleaner and more saturated. These changes may be barely noticeable, but the new icon looks much more appealing visually. We chose a thin font, which better matches the brand character, colors, and typography in general.
The icon is the first letter of CloudSpot. It also resembles the camera lens and the human eye. The thin font and the spot-like icon balance one another well.
Here’s the final version with the updated color palette:
2. Branding: problem & solution
CloudSpot brand character: simple, modern, minimalist, sophisticated, fresh.
- corporate style
A platform meant for photographers has to feature a soft color palette. It acts as a calm background without overshadowing the photos or distracting the audience.
Our client’s problem was rather typical. Over time, branding had been done by different professionals. The changes were fragmentary and nonsystematic. As a result, the visuals looked disjointed, poorly structured, and outdated.
Our main task was to create a brand guide: a clear framework in which the brand would look unified, harmonious, and modern.
Solution: We created a unified color palette as close to the initial one as possible. We retained the original color but freshened up the hue, adding some brightness and saturation. This made the visuals cleaner and more pronounced. We changed the layout, making the structure simpler, more minimalist, and cleaner. We chose new fonts for the visual system, both primary and secondary. We developed new stylistic techniques and elements and designed social media pages. The corporate style became unified and visually complete.
This color scheme is used in all branding elements, making it unified and recognizable:
- font
The original font was heavy-looking and didn’t correspond to the brand character and audience tastes. Our audience needed something lighter, more sophisticated, and eye-pleasing. The font had to be clear and easily readable, but at the same time not too distracting for a viewer browsing the photo gallery.
We used Cormorant and Avenir as primary fonts, for headlines and textual highlights. Secondary headlines had to be more decorative, so the perfect solution was Bon Vivant Family Script. This was the optimal solution:
Conclusions
Redesign is integral to developing a brand’s corporate identity. Updates signal the changes taking place within the brand, reflecting the process of its growth. For the market, no change means stagnation; for the users, it means indifference to their needs and tastes. Our client understood this very well and acted purposefully. The redesign helped the brand break away from competitors, show its activity and relevance, and adapt its identity to different platforms.
Small changes have brought big results. Despite the fact that the changes were “surgical,” imperceptible and neat, the overall impression of the branding has improved significantly. It has been renewed and refreshed.
We really enjoyed working with the CloudSpot team. And not only because we received valuable experience and great feedback. We all learn from each other. We were deeply touched by their caring attitude toward their users, their commitment to thinking through every little detail for the present and for the future, their desire to help people achieve professional growth and assist them in all matters. It’s no surprise that CloudSpot’s audience is growing day by day. It’s a great platform for creative people and we are glad that we continue to take part in its further development.
The website is currently in development, but you will see some great changes very soon.
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