Category: Ops Log

  • Ctrl + R

    It’s only been like two weeks but I went ahead and refreshed the brand kit. Over this summer we’ve gone from nothing but a wordmark, to a smiley face, to a custom smiley + other assets.

    I found a generic smiley face a couple weeks ago and placed the “OL” in place of the eyes. This gave the brand a bit of soul and allowed us to place the smiley on marketing assets besides the wordmark, and it was a nice juxtaposition against dark imagery. But this was a bit of a hack job. The smile on the face did not look right with the thick block letters on the eyes “OL”. I reached out to Baza fof help in making the smile a bit thicker and she went all out with the angles and the whole kit looks so fresh…

    With the launch of the brand new package, our brand opens up a new opportunities to seamlessly incorporate our elements across various social media platforms and other creative spaces. This represents a significant milestone in our ongoing brand evolution.

    We’ve begun incorporating this new kit into assets and you will see it hit all elements on the website over the coming weeks. I am questioning whether I go back into the archives and refresh old asset images with the new logos (I probably will because OCD is real).

  • RETVRN & REBELLION

    Developing the style guide.

    In recent weeks, I grappled with a core challenge: How can we effectively market a brand that offers only one or two products? How many times can one post “buy my product” without sounding repetitive, particularly for a single item? My quest was to uncover a compelling top-of-funnel narrative beyond merely pitching a sale.

    Upon launching Orange Label, I envisioned its aesthetic but hadn’t fully considered the broader marketing strategy. The foundation was simple: League Gothic Italic font, a color palette of Black, White, and #FF9E1B. Building a website on this premise, the initial theme was bright and minimalistic. The key message on social platforms revolved around the simplicity of Bitcoin.

    I built the website around those basics and was off to the races. The home page started with a white theme very, bright and clean. On socials, the brand has been “Bitcoin is easy”. Really, that has been the marketing northstar up until we launched the BTC Mag GL9

    The Mags

    However, the launch of the BTC Mag GL9 marked a pivotal moment, especially being our first offering after the Azteco gift cards. The unique pattern designed by Clancy for the magazines added depth to our brand, offering us a tangible product to showcase alongside our wordmark. This expansion enriched our marketing narrative, allowing us to:

    1. Promote Azteco.
    2. Market our custom Glock magazines.

    These dual messages revitalized my enthusiasm for social media promotion. The focus shifted to regular product updates and enhancing the website’s design.

    The Smiley

    Last week creativity sparked further when I designed two new assets:

    1. Smiley: By creatively using the ‘O’ and ‘L’ from our wordmark, I crafted a smiley icon. It’s delightful and aptly embodies our “Bitcoin is Easy” ethos.
    2. Dollar Pattern: I created a pattern based on the US dollar, which added intrigue and symbolized evolving brand sentiments.

    Opting for a black backdrop across the website gave our brand a more rebellious edge. The new designs seamlessly blended into the website and our social media, enhancing overall brand coherence.

    I also made a pattern of a US Dollar and ran it through a filter. The final result looks like this:

    From a marketing point of view, you can feel something special emerging. The spirit of “Bitcoin is Easy” is captured by the smiley, which utulizes the wordmark font, and the dollar pattern is interesting because it is a statement about the money. Which is still developing for the brand.

    I dropped the white background across the website, and went with a black background on the site which feels more rebelious and on brand, as opposed to the white background. The new logos were inserted across the site and social, and it already feels so much better.

    Juxtaposition

    Recently, I experimented with a monochromatic theme juxtaposed with brand-relevant images targeting bitcoin enthusiasts and freedom seekers. An example featured a surveillance camera pole, symbolizing state control, contrasted with our smiley logo – embodying resistance and freedom.

    This is a surveillance camera pole, iconic as it embodies our enemy the state. Across the front is our smiley logo. It is a stark image. The smiley brings out the opposite emotion that the surveilance cameras bring out. It is in line with the dollar pattern. I think there’s something here.

    I then went to twitter for a test post using this same formula. This time using BIS chief Carstens, with a fiter plus the smiley logo. What is interesting about this is that this post does not have a product in it. This is a culture post. That’s the culture we are interesting in. Pointing out the enemies and calling them out. The juxtaposition of a villain paired with the smiley face is where it is at.

    I extended this theme on Twitter, blending renowned figures with our smiley icon, albeit without featuring any products. This cultural narrative draws attention to adversaries while celebrating our ethos. The interplay of contrasting images provides ample content to delineate heroes from villains. I’ve contemplated showcasing heroes with an orange duo-tone filter and white graphics, while villains might be represented in black and white with either orange or white fonts.

    The RETVRN and REBELLION campaigns encapsulate calls to action that resonate with our audience’s sentiments. While I’m still finalizing the design details, such as font color choices, the brand has undoubtedly evolved.

    In summary, Orange Label has matured from a foundational color palette and name to a dynamic brand with clear direction, diverse assets, and products. Leveraging our fresh narrative strategies, we’re equipped with a consistent content stream that meshes product promotions with engaging storytelling.