Smart Friends
Creating a lifestyle brand that captures the optimistic future envisioned by an existing community of scientists, technologists, and futurists.
The Client
Author, speaker, investor, and podcaster Eric Jorgenson is a leader in the space of deep-thinking individuals. The community he has collected enjoys his curation of topics, conversions, and insights.
The Challenge
As an already existing personal brand, Eric amassed a large following, but as this evolved into a business he needed to properly house the system within a singular brand that will be used for future writings, investor funds, newsletters, podcasts, and more. The brand needed to relate to the audience and what they have loved, but also take them on this journey as Eric progresses to the next chapter of his evolving career.
The Strategy
Strategy is inherently future-forward and developing it for a futurist brand is only natural. By aligning our approach to be reflective of what our analysis brought to light about the current audience, we were able to better understand what elements to draw upon. This also brought clarity for how the brand can lean further into its space and attract more of the ideal audience. The strategy is completely focused on the shared mindset of the individuals and laid the stepping stones for a method to reach them.
The Design
Driven by the direction of the strategy, the design for Smart Friends had specific elements that would be the most impactful to include. The elements are determined impactful based on their visual salience according to the audience as well as their associations with the figures. The circular shape gave flow to the icon and was accompanied by the rotating motion created by the speech bubbles. The three speech bubbles create the shape of an eye that is centered with the glistening pupil. The eye shows observation and insight while the glisten of the pupil is associated with hope and kindness. The intertwining speech bubbles are designed to be of another speaker and not the self which further reinforces the aspect of listening in the Smart Friends community. The intertwining is the multiple conversations and perspectives of members convening together seamlessly.
The Creative Solution*
The final solution was a collective representation of what Smart Friends means. The creative typography that is progressive yet familiar compliments the abstract icon as they work together to communicate the brand. The identity of the brand is expanded by visual illustrations that focus on conceptual displays of futuristic technologies, industries, hopes, and dreams. The bright and vibrant color palette is eye-catching and reflects the innate optimism of the Smart Friends community and their view of the bright future.
The Results
Configured to signal the audience boldly, this brand evokes emotions that draw them in based on their psychographics and perception of the world. From the strategy and framing of the new brand to the visual design, the complete identity will resonate and be scalable as the community grows and Eric adds more value with new books, content, and offerings. The brand gives a home to those who connect with it.
*Learn more why our solutions drive results.
