Case Studies

Launched as a brand in 2012, DailyObjects had grown into a significant player by 2014 with its core offering of smartphone cases featuring artworks from hundreds of independent artists from across the globe. At the same time, as a front-runner in what was growing into an increasingly competitive space, DailyObjects was faced with 2 significant challenges.

Firstly, despite growing sales, there was lack of recognition as a design-centric brand with a specific point-of-view. Worryingly, there was also partial (mis)perception as an aggregator. Secondly, the inevitable growth of the business beyond smartphone cases, created an urgent need for overarching brand principles that could grow with the business, and strengthen the scale with brand cohesion.

We worked with the founding team to identify and articulate the over-arching brand idea, and create an identity system which could be executed across touchpoints by the inhouse design team and successive agencies with high degrees of flexibility and adaptation.

A new message as the heart of the brand.

A critical aspect of the brand idea emerged from examining the founding team’s interest in and motivation towards design. The DailyObjects viewpoint, rather than being style-driven, was of open and democratic design—that design is for everyone, and appeals differently to different people. This was also echoed in the varied demographic profile of the consumer base. Diversity, therefore, became a core point of brand differentiation, supported by the growing range of products and artists featured. For an individual consumer, this value translated into the ability to find ‘the one’ that they really liked or connected with, by way of design and content on objects of personal use.

Another key intervention was the shift away from articulating specific products (smartphones, laptop sleeves, bags etc.) as the core offering. Instead, and well in time for the product line diversification, the message changed to ‘Things you love + Things you use’. This simple shift enables the brand to bring together what appeals to the consumer (things you love) and the possibilities of an ever-growing product range (things you use).

The brand-mark was inspired by the ‘one in many’ idea with an inherent feeling of endless possibilities. The simple yet playful mark was designed to hold its own, without adding a fixed character when used in combination with or context of different product themes and aesthetics. The simplicity was also used to cue a more premium product, with quality product material, printing and delivery. Different avatars of the logo unit were designed to support requirements across media (screen, print etc) and amplify brand presence as required.

Acknowledging the need to create diverse expressions encompassing different genres, moods and themes in communication on a daily basis, adaptable brand elements were created and selected to provide an open playground for designers working with the brand.

Elements of the brand were also adapted into clean and functional design elements for the online shopping experience. The design language is reflective of DailyObject's democratic design philosophy, providing easy access to ample choices. The clean and spacious layouts allow for greater focus on product details, while retaining richness of information.