Redesigning a global brand
Wirecard was a leader in the field of financial commerce and technology. It offered both business customers and consumers innovative value-added services for all aspects of digital payment transactions: online, mobile and at the point of sale.
The briefing
The objective
In 2019, individual product appearances were to be combined under the newly created umbrella brand Wirecard. In the course of this consolidation, a further development of the corporate identity was essential, also taking account of increasing global requirements. The brand was to be strengthened and brand awareness increased internally and externally.
My role
As Creative Director, I accompanied the redesign of the logo, executed design concepts for color, typography, icons, imagery, illustration and websites and made the results available on the brand platform worldwide. I led the design process across team boundaries and was responsible for all brand and product design issues as well as marketing initiatives.
Why a redesign?
Design is not just a matter of a feeling. It's key to understand that users, especially in a digital environment, expect excellence and a coherent experience across all touchpoints throughout the whole brand journey. Therefore a redesign of the complete existing brand was necessary to ensure long-term success.
Redefining a global brand
Values
Everything begins with a vision. Which values support this idea? Challenge, intelligence, and cutting edge. These attributes shape the image and how the company is perceived.
Inspiration
The Fundamental Grotesk by Arno Drescher was used as the basic font for the redesign. Quite popular when hot metal typesetting was a thing, it has since faded into oblivion.
Creation
The new logo is balanced and easy to read even in small sizes. With its spacing and open design, the logo is friendly and inviting. The geometry picks up the theme of technology.
Detail
A design lives from the carefully crafted details. To make the realization as easy as possible, standard templates have been created for all aspects of the corporate design.
Definition
We have defined and classified all corporate design elements for a globally consistent implementation of our design standards. In addition, in-house workshops were held.
Scale
In order to present the brand on a global scale, the main typeface has been expanded to include Chinese characters. To ensure a consistent design, templates were provided.
As brand ambassadors, we have realised an online portal together with the text and brand management teams. This was the single source of truth for brand design, positioning concept, and tone of voice. In addition, we offered various templates and assets globally via the platform.
My achievements:
Ideation, conception, art direction, design execution, presentation, mentoring, coaching, production supervision, and recruitment/management of agencies and freelancers. Monitoring and approval of creation and budget.
In collaboration with: Markus Weißenhorn
As part of the redesign of the brand, we relaunched the global website. The design concept reflected the state-of-the-art technology and enabled a friendlier, dynamic interface. In a second phase we developed a design system that was to be used worldwide not only for web applications but also as the basis of backend and desktop applications.
In collaboration with: Synergy Solutions
Design of a credit card management application.
The implementation of the mobile app for iOS and Android was part of the redesign project. During the design process it was particularly important to implement the new design approach conscientiously, also in the area of motion design.
Brand awareness campaign
In a three-part video series for social media, different characters talk about their life stories and how they have utilized the digital revolution as musicians, engineers, and managers to make their dreams reality and how to overcome the obstacles and move forward. We are generation #borndigital.
