Behind the Scenes of the Hottest Startup Logos

We’re always being told the myths behind the world’s most iconic logos. How Nike Got Its Swoosh (for just $35) is pretty much a design fairy tale (especially given that co-founder Philip Knight’s reaction was the somewhat ambivalent “I don’t love it, but it will grow on me.”) But we rarely hear about logos from new companies who aren’t yet living legends. We’ve spoken to some awesome new startups about their logos to give them the chance to share their stories…

Pearl

Pearl creates new car technology, including their premier product RearVision. This is a wireless backup camera so you can see what’s behind you when you reverse. It upgrades your car and turns your phone into a rearview screen.

Jorge Fino, Director of Design at Pearl, explained their logo:

“The logo was designed by Character, a San Francisco based branding and design agency. We named the company Pearl because of several things that it represents. A pearl is a precious object that’s carefully created and perfected over time, which represents our products and mission. Not to mention, a sphere represents simplicity and strength. A cocoon or shell represents the safety our products and services will provide the driver and passenger on the inside of a vehicle.

Pearl’s technology and machine intelligence is the heart of the system, and it provides the pulse for everything we do in the future. It’s the foundation upon which we can build a vast range of new possibilities and experiences in the car. As our family of products evolves, we will enable experiences that grow and expand to become unique and personal.

The mark itself loosely conveys 3 characteristics:

It’s systematic:
The single lower circle, amongst the four others that are filled, signifies several pertinent scenarios:
-a modular set of components that improve when connected together.
-a system with a central point of intelligence
-a hub or mesh of cars

Secondly, it symbolises growth, in that it expands over time to become a unique, custom experience for every Pearl user.

And finally, it conveys rhythm. The collection of circles has a rhythm, just like Pearl becomes part of the rhythm of our everyday lives. Always with you, letting you get back to the beautiful parts of driving.

We launched the company last June so we’re still exploring the impact it’s having amount our customers and the broader public.”

Lola Travel

Lola is a travel app that provides instant access to a team of real human travel experts who will take care of your every travel need. Their logo was designed by NYC branding agency, Athletics. Malcolm Buick, Athletics’ Creative Director, told us about the agency’s thoughts behind the design:

“Lola’s name is a play on longitude and latitude. We really liked this approach to abbreviating language and felt the logo could behave similarly. Where you’d expect to see many vertical and horizontal lines for the graphic representation of longitude and latitude on a globe, we’ve settled on an abbreviated version: a vertical axis circled by a single horizontal hoop. The tilt of the logo matches the natural 23.5º tilt of the Earth.

Our process for design is never the same, but does often start with great insight (thanks to Plaid). The idea of travel for most is complex, and tiresome, but the name Lola is short, personable, and exudes simplicity, so we ultimately knew that the design needed to begin there. We always look at our solutions in context, and today designing just a logo is never a great way to give a client a solution. It needs to be tested, and explored in a multitude of arenas. Along the way the collaboration with the team, in both product, and marketing was invaluable to the final decision.

We presented 3 complete different worlds to the client, and ultimately they selected one of those – from here Lola was born, and the story of travel was a consistent theme from logo, icon, to product. Because Lola offers it’s users personalised travel assistance, it’s a brand experience or a service that feels very centred around the individual. These themes of movement, central focus and simplicity are hopefully reinforced by the logo.”

Sunsprite

Sunsprite is a wearable light tracker that lets you measure how much sun you are getting, with the aim of reducing problems like depression. Founder Jacqueline Olds tells us a bit about the logo:

“Our logo was created by Katharine Woodman-Maynard in NH. Her company is called Maywood Art. She was trying to tell the story of measuring light in the logo. Since SunSprite is a light tracker that lets you measure how much sun you are getting and compare it with what research tells us we need to cure depression and improve focus, it seemed like a perfect logo. ”

Trunq

Trunq is a single place to capture, share, and privately save your best videos, pictures, and other electronic files. You can capture and share your favourite moments as they happen, send something special to be opened later, or upload and save a blast from the past. These best things are stored in your personal “trunq,” a private digital scrapbook.

Meetwo

Meetwo is a brand new dating app based on chemistry, not algorithm. Co-founder and vision driver Sebastien explains their modern logo:

“The logo was roughly designed by the Indian team in charge of the app development and made perfect by a French designer named Shannon Kanounji.

The signification of the logo represent 100% the DNA of our startup. Meetwo is a dating app and we call ourselves the first dating app based on chemistry. We needed a simple and beautiful logo that defines this idea. That’s why we went for a lab flask with hearts as bubbles.

Are you an awesome startup with a fantastic logo design? Then we want to profile you! Email rebecca@twine.fm for more info.