Rebranding of Spiro: Interview with FreshTech's Art Director and Head of Marketing
We have recently rebranded our low-code platform. Due to its versatility, we changed the name from fdForge to Spiro to fully unleash its potential. We formed a new visual concept for FreshTech's flagship product and created a comprehensive brand identity.
We conducted an internal interview and would like to share with you the behind-the-scenes of this exciting stage in our company's development.
Hi, guys! Please tell a few words about yourself and your role in the company.
Hi, I'm Kristina, I've been working in the company for almost 2 years and currently head the marketing department. So positioning, promotion of the company and products on the market is my area of responsibility)
Hi, I'm Dmytro, I joined the company as a UI specialist almost 6 years ago and now hold the position of Art Director. I coordinate design processes and the team, along with designing on projects.
Kristina, tell us why you decided to change the name from fdForge to Spiro?
You know, the idea of rebranding has been in the air for some time now. We've grown and changed a lot over the 9 years of fdForge's existence. Today, we have the same values, but with a different scale and more opportunities. It was because of the platform's versatility that we had to change the name to one that would fully reveal its potential. This is how Spiro was born.
What does the new name Spiro symbolize? Are there any special stories behind the choice?
Kristina: Before we started our numerous brainstorming sessions on choosing a name, we set out a number of criteria that our brand should meet. They were: thoroughness, conciseness, ease of perception and memorization, and most importantly, the name should inspire.
As they say, all means are good in creative tasks, and in our case, the medical Latin-Ukrainian dictionary unexpectedly became a source of inspiration 🙈
Spiro comes from the Greek language and means “to breathe”. The name resonates with the word Inspiration and gives a fresh breath of air to your business. It encourages you to grow, create, and bring your ideas to life. And that's how all the puzzles fit together)
What are the core values you'd like to convey through the new name and brand?
Kristina: First of all, Spiro reflects FreshTech's values of ambition, responsibility, initiative, openness, and simplicity, which are revealed in its work through powerful functionality, system flexibility, and opportunities for business growth.
Dmytro, tell us about the new Spiro logo. What ideas did you intend to express through it, and how did you choose the color palette?
We wanted to create a feeling of a breathable element and emphasize Spiro's technological capabilities. Our goal was also to create a brand palette that would convey a sense of inspiration and positivity, while at the same time meeting the requirements of the interface and web accessibility.
What fonts and typography do you use?
Dmytro: The logo uses the Saira font, which highlights the shape of the sign and becomes one with it. We chose the well-known classic Inter as the system font. This font family was developed specifically for interfaces, so it suited us perfectly.
Kristina, Dmytro, what was the process of developing the new brand like? Who was involved and what challenges did you face?
Kristina: There were several stages in the development of the new brand. At first, the marketing team worked on naming: they formed criteria, looked for ideas, and held several rounds of brainstorming sessions. And then there were 100500 options and the selection of the best one). Next, we involved our CEO Serhii and management for feedback. After the “finalists” were selected, Dima and his design team started working.
Dmytro: Yes, we decided to go the conceptual route and consider the logo as a whole. So we took the top 3 names in the survey and developed concepts for them with a minimal set of artifacts. After that, we presented them to our colleagues, and it worked. Spiro was definitely a favorite. Then there were a few more iterations in this direction, and eventually we chose the final version.
Kristina, what are the company's plans for the future development of the Spiro brand?
Spiro doesn't stand still, but actually evolves every day. It has a dedicated team that implements cool functionality to simplify and improve the work in the system. The opinion of our customers is important to us, so we collect feedback and take it into account in new releases.
Our plans are to further grow and develop the Spiro platform, help startups and established businesses bring their ideas to life, create innovative solutions, simplify and increase efficiency by automating business processes.
What would you like to say to your clients and partners?
Kristina: We don't know what tomorrow will bring, so we need to live our “today” to the fullest. Do not put it off, but dream and turn your ideas into reality (Consider it a sign from above 😉)
That's right, it's a good recommendation. If you've been planning something for a long time and putting it off for later, now is the time to implement ideas and launch new projects.
Kristina, Dmytro, thank you for your answers and the opportunity to dive into the process of creating a new visual image of the product, to look at all the stages through the eyes of those who were involved.