Very

When Very came to us, they were one of many in a Wild West landscape of the IoT world. Behind the scenes, Very is a dedicated group of overachievers, collaborators, and partners. They’re anything but just another IoT firm. There was an opportunity for the brand to plant its flag in the ground and take a stand on how it’s different and what it values. Our research suggested that Very’s distinction in being the only independent experts who take a personal interest and stake in building sustainable technology was an opportunity. We worked with the Very team to express this distinction and define their High-end, Disciplined, and Optimistic brand attributes through the perception of their industrial-minded audience. Very’s independence, work ethic, and spirit of continuous improvement is so strong that we wanted to connect that to its name in their new identity.

Before, Very struggled to define the right messaging and voice and tone — its verbal identity defaulted to a more teaching style and less conversational one. This was causing the brand’s communication to feel absent of the human elements that reflect the true nature of Very’s work. They needed a verbal personality with gravitas and polish without feeling inaccessible, preachy, and lacking humanity.

The new verbal identity emphasizes that Very builds more than a product; they build a partnership to push the boundaries of what’s possible together. They shoulder their clients’ toughest challenges right alongside them. Very’s voice and tone showcases the brand as substantial and serious without arrogance, bravado, and formality. Every quality is tempered by the next. Taken together, Very sounds exciting, passionate, dedicated, and positive.

A short name is something to show off. We knew early on that we wanted to explore logotype-only styles for Very in order to make the most of its appeal and increase the name’s awareness and equity. Our aim was to embody the brand’s perspective to invite the most interesting conundrums — and solve them. Very revels in what seemed impossible before.

Their logotype is custom built on the bones of the typeface TWK Everett — it is well grounded, but feels elevated by the “Y,” lifting the rest of the letterforms up from its platform. There’s a sense of endurance through the “V” and the “R” and confidence in both the casing and the sharpness of the letters. It feels opinionated, in a good way.

The foundation of Very’s visual language is rooted in the grid. It was inspired by the idea of bringing goals and challenges into focus, signifying the value of solutions and outcomes, and showcasing Very’s process-to-completion state. The core grid structure allows Very to create emphasis or spaces for messaging, photography, or other visual elements on which to focus.

The grid can be used in three ways: as a texture, as a frame, and as a layout.

Poly Sans is a modern, sophisticated type system that is versatile and showcases the brand’s flexibility. Its character and connection to the logotype with its soft edge, ink trap feature was the perfect choice for Very’s workhorse type.

The color palette is robust, energetic, and agile. Very’s marketing iconography is clean and optimistic to help balance the visual language.

That final Brand Guidelines deliverable is only the beginning of a rebrand. Brand touches every aspect of an organization, so that means a lot of pieces need updating. Our Brand Support team stepped in to help Very create the assets needed for their brand rollout. We designed an email template, expanded their new iconography, created social assets for the big reveal, and more.