Creating Zephyr's Identity
D Software was developing Zephyr, its new test management software, and asked ZURB to create the brand identity. With such a soft phoneme, our initial reaction was to balance that with a sturdy, strong logotype.
Exploration
On paper, we sketched out a series of visual concepts for Zephyr's new brandmark. This let us quickly try different approaches and get immediate feedback from the team before delving too deep into the details.
Zeroing In
A zephyr quite literally is a light breeze from the West. We decided to capture and capitalize on this feeling by creating a flowing sweep of fine linework that evoked the "West Wind" theme, juxtaposing the light and airy shape with the solid block lettering.
We experimented with substituting the "E" with the trio of lines—and this design resonated with the team. The zig-zag of the blockiest "Z" added a sense of speed and electricity to the logotype.
Refinement
The final concept beefed up the wispy linework to make it read more like the letter "E" and connote a wing taking flight.
Adding an aqua-to-green over black palette created a look and feel altogether different and more sophisticated than any of D Software's competitors.
Follow along with Zephyr's development on getzephyr.com.
