The Companion
Brand Strategy, Identity & Website
The Narrative is a digital production company and entertainment studio based in London. They are experts in community, content and commercialisation on new and emerging channels.
The Narrative commissioned The Design Laboratory - their long-time design partners - to bring their latest vision to life: to elevate the conversation around film and TV, to create a platform that brings the Science-Fiction community together and to give them the quality journalism they deserve.
The outcome was the highest quality product for loyal Science-Fiction fans in the form of a Subscription Publisher: The Companion.
The Companion is an online platform that offers new perspectives, in-depth articles, podcasts and artwork from Science-Fiction authors, journalists, cast and crew on films and shows within this genre.
Brand Identity, Digital
In this project, we worked with the client since the inception of the idea, helping them with the business and brand strategy, followed by the creation of a brand identity, online platform and communication materials.
To start with the project we conducted a series of workshops where we extracted valuable information and insights that would help us develop the brand strategy. We looked into the industry background and pain points, as well as the audience and offering. After this, we established the vision, the purpose and the values. With all this information we defined the tone of voice: to echo quality, cinematic and premium.
Once the brand strategy was defined, we worked on a few concepts that will set the tone for the brand identity. “The Glitch” is the concept we developed into the brand identity. It tells the story of editorial transition between traditional print and digital while giving a feeling of suspense, anticipation like something is going to come.
The Design Laboratory created a set of functional icons with a mix of round and sharp edges that suits the brand. The simple, clean and minimal look of these icons allows for them to be used without distracting from brand content on the platform.
To identify when an icon has been selected, we created a glitch effect which is achieved by using the secondary colours of the brand. The resulting effect echoes a well-known glitch found and seen within the moving image.
The Companion is an online platform where paying members get access to exclusive content like in-depth articles, podcasts and artwork around Science-Fiction.
The Design Laboratory designed the look and feel of the website and app, and put rules in place around the usage of typography, colours, images and other brand elements like separation lines, glitched images and icons. The platform also gives the user the option to choose between light and dark mode for better readability.
