Based mostly in Berlin, Undiscovered is a recruitment company specialising in artistic roles. Particularly, it matches expertise in design, product, engineering, and advertising with startups, businesses, and firms throughout Europe.
They lately modified their title and commenced increasing into new areas. To uphold these lofty ambitions, they felt a rebrand was wanted.
And they also turned to Hyperfocus, a younger and keen boutique company based mostly in Hamburg that sits on the intersection between model and product design.
Hyperfocus labored on strategic positioning, character and model improvement, naming, and web site design.
The temporary
Initially, Undiscovered was referred to as MR Recruitment, named after the enterprise’s founder. However after a few years within the trade, carving out a profitable monitor document, it was time to make the massive leap ahead and rebrand.
“At first, it was unsure whether or not we should always rename the corporate, as they had been already established,” recollects Paul Watmough-Halim, co-founder and digital model director of Hyperfocus. “However as we drove additional into the concepts and instructions we had been having, it turned clear it might be a sensible factor to do.”
Consequently, the title turned a driving issue within the model’s storytelling. “We needed every little thing to spark curiosity and pleasure in any respect touchpoints,” he says. We right here at Hyperfocus consider in creating manufacturers which can be daring, courageous, and in addition enjoyable. So that is what we needed to do for MR Recruitment: create one thing individuals would bear in mind and love.”
Naming course of
So, how did they go about naming? “We’ve got a course of right here on the studio which is type of like a mass spherical of eliminations,” Paul explains. “We categorise phrases and names into teams: names that join and names that are also nonsensical. Pairing phrases and constructing new ones helps us discover candidates. This takes a really very long time and is commonly the toughest a part of the method.
“Typically, once you discover a title, it is already taken,” Paul continues. “There’s a native, regional, and worldwide registration and checking half, which is a killer. There have been just a few names within the operating on the finish, which we additionally put to a vote internally and on social media.
“Finally, although, the title appeared as we mentioned different names close to the top of the method. This may usually be the case with naming: you may create a construction and course of round it, however generally it simply seems while being a part of the general mindset of discovery.”
Enjoyable character
They based mostly the brand new visible identification round a detective character who, with relentless persistence, finds one of the best jobs and expertise for his candidates and shoppers.
“Our little protagonist is a personification of the founder, synonymous with sporting slightly pork pie hat,” explains artistic director Paul Watmough-Halim. “He is been sporting it for years. He is an enormous French man and could be noticed very simply from afar. In order that hat had to be within the idea. Plus, it was a carryover from the outdated emblem, which had been a black hat.”
The crew additionally checked out outdated French comedian books to search out inspiration. “Some individuals have mentioned it reminds them of Inspector Jacques Clouseau from the Pink Panther,” muses Paul. “This was by no means in our moods or analysis, however we discover it an enormous praise that folks have discovered a loveable connection there. We all know that in actual life, Mathieu works rattling onerous to take care of his shoppers and candidates. So the story was already there; we simply needed to make sense of it and lock it down.”
In brief, the Undiscovered declare turned, ‘We go to extraordinary lengths to search out you the precise job’. “So with this declare, the journey begins, as our character does precisely that. Leaping out of planes, trying beneath rocks, timber, cafes, behind cactuses… his relentlessness is unprecedented.”
Strategic positioning
Undiscovered has two focus areas relating to acquisitions: expertise, and people seeking to rent expertise. “The storytelling of the model facilitates this by way of our every-ready protagonists, on the market doing the perfect to search out these skills,” explains Paul. “The principle a part of fixing these challenges, although, is especially within the total person expertise at a digital stage.”
Cautious consideration was paid to UX to maintain this simple and straightforward to know as Hyperfocus cut up the general expertise into two chapters, one for ‘Candidates’ and one for ‘Skills’. “Our mission was to make making use of for jobs simple, preserve open traces of communication, and construct sturdy, lasting relationships with shoppers and hiring managers,” says Paul. “Our purpose was to create a simplified, accessible, and personable hiring expertise. This was routed in every little thing we think about when creating the general branded expertise.”
Typography and illustrations
For typography, Hyperfocus used the serif from the STK Bureau font after which customised it for the wordmark. “The font was created by Smuss Studio and was the proper alternative for us,” says Paul. “It is an actual workhorse, in addition to being relatively lovely.”
In the meantime, the sans model was used for physique copy and smaller titles throughout different model touchpoints, together with the web site. “This font establishes a really recognisable emblem lockup for us,” says Paul. “It provides an air of sophistication but sits fortunately subsequent to our playful and enjoyable protagonist”.
As for the illustrations, says Paul, “We knew they need to be actually easy and stylistic, however nonetheless, the character ought to have emotion and be very versatile and straightforward to animate. The hat and the eyes allowed us to do that; eyes can say a lot!
“We’ve got a number of expressions of the eyes in our character set,” he provides. “The hat additionally provides a stage of humour to the character and performs an necessary half in speaking scenario and emotion. Our character additionally has a hand, which was an additional issue in order that it might work together with the surroundings we positioned it in.”
When it got here to movement, every little thing was finished in After Results and once more saved so simple as attainable. “We needed to create loops that might grow to be infections,” says Paul. “Little tales assist us preserve telling our story. Movement is super-important within the manufacturers we construct, including a layer of enjoyable and lovability to the entire expertise.”