Expression Systems Brand Identity
Expression Systems, a biotechnology company in Davis, California, came to us with a need. They wanted to assume their role as a major league player in their industry, which is dominated by huge corporations. To do this, they’d need a new brand identity. Although this would include many elements such as color palettes, typeface selections, positioning and branded literature, we started with updating their logo.
The moth depicted in the existing logo suffered from a number of design issues. Foremost was the level of detail and complexity in the logo which reproduced poorly, especially in small applications. The typeface (two colors, unevenly spaced, all caps) suffered from poor readability. Overall, it just didn’t convey the kind of industry leadership the client was hoping we could help them project.
We retained the moth wing motif to preserve its brand equity, but presented it with simple colors and modern typography for an approachable, minimalistic aesthetic. The asymmetric placement of the wings creates tension between the wings and the type, providing further brand identity differentiation from the competition.
For a fascinating article describing our design process, read senior designer Chris Tandoc’s blog, here.