Start it X, an ever-expanding collection of projects, services and products that make innovation & growth happen. They are more than the sum of its parts, with each new project creating new opportunities and new partnerships along the way. By doing what it takes to make innovation & growth happen, they’ve built up experience, expertise and a network that includes: +300 industries, +900 start-ups, +1600 entrepreneurs, over 200 experienced mentors (business owners, CEOs, investors) & corporate partners. As Start it X grew and evolved, so did their vision on innovation & growth. To help craft a brand that could reflect those intentions and prepare the company for the next stage of their transformation, we were invited to develop an identity and brand architecture that reflected the company's purpose and focus.
The project involved an intense co-creation with the Start it X creative team. The rebrand presented two opportunities ahead. On a practical level, Start it X needed a robust identity that could scale and support its ambition for the years to come. But there was also a clear opportunity to rethink the complex brand architecture in a more smoother way. Start-ups remain a considerable piece of Start it X’s offering, however the landscape has changed over the years. The average age of a start-up entrepreneur in Belgium is 30+ with most of the time 10+ years of relevant experience. Taking this into account it was about time to part ways with the previous identity which was rooted in a strong start-up vibe. Answering to the needs for both scalability and the introduction of a renewed brand architecture, we developed a flexible system inspired by the idea of growth. This simple visual behaviour articulates the DNA of Start it X; Striving for growth and innovation and doing whatever it takes to get there for corporates, scale-ups and start-ups. The cascading behaviour is used in dynamic layouts and in motion: expanding, contracting and overlapping, bringing together photography, video and typography. We rethought the brand architecture that over the years had a wildfire of expressions. We introduced a simple, yet effective syntax-like system enabling the target audience to literally ‘read’ the logo. The arrow (as first component) represents ‘Start it’, followed by a subbrand specific suffix as differentiating factor.
Rebranding Brand Architecture Brand Strategy Motion Design
Before
Answering to the needs for both scalability and the introduction of a renewed brand architecture, we developed a flexible system inspired by the idea of growth.
