If you’ve caught a glimpse of our recent communications, you might have noticed some changes. There’s been a significant shift in our look and feel at Popi, and we’re excited to share the thought process behind it.
At first glance, calling this a ‘brand refresh’ might feel like an understatement—because a lot has changed. We’ve reimagined our colour palette, typography, image style, and the overall vibe of our assets. Over the next few minutes, we want to take you behind the scenes to explain the strategy and reasoning behind our new identity.
The decision to update our brand was driven by a need to realign our visual identity with who we’ve become.
Our previous branding was effective, but it began to look and feel like exactly what you would expect from a B2B-focused creative agency—safe, conventional, & very blue.
Popi, however, has evolved. We’re offering a higher quality service, we’re more technologically advanced, more creative and bolder than ever before. We wanted our new look to reflect our role as a guiding light in creativity—helping our clients shine brighter and attract the attention they deserve.
The core challenge? Design an identity that captured the essence of Popi today, while maintaining a visual continuity that long-time clients would still recognise and appreciate.
From the outset, we knew we wanted to retain the circular silhouette of our logo. This shape symbolises the collaborative relationships we build with our clients—the ‘inner circle’ of trust, creativity, and partnership that we strive for.
We wanted to create a visual language that would, over time, become unmistakably Popi. We took inspiration from iconic brands whose logos have transcended time—the Olympic rings, the Adidas stripes, the McDonald’s arches. These are not just symbols; they are shorthand for an entire identity.
To kick us off, we reviewed everything that we’d had before, from the original hand script logo from 1989, through to every iteration since. As well as the logos, we took a cross section of the imagery and concepts used throughout the years.
If you’re a long term customer of Popi you will remember some of the iconic imagery we’ve used throughout the years.
Using the metric of ‘mentions in casual conversation’ it became clear that the concept that has resonated with most customers, is the penguins. A mascot originally chosen for their resilience to thriving in harsh environments through teamwork, commitment to a single partner, and distinctive personalities. The penguin might just be the perfect conceptual brand alignment for Popi.
However, we didn’t want to rely solely on penguin imagery. Instead, we aimed to distil its essence into something more iconic and abstract, something that could serve as a foundation for a bold and memorable identity.
How do we help our clients? We guide them to better marketing through creative ideas. That’s us, that’s what we do. We make our customers stand out. Our whole aim is to get people to notice and use our customers' products or services.
The definition for the word ‘Beacon’ is “A beacon is an intentionally conspicuous device designed to attract attention to a specific location.”
That’s great, that’s essentially what we’re offering our customers.
Now what’s the most distinctive part of a penguin? The beak? (Well, if it’s not the most distinctive it’s definitely in the top 3 features)
And from that, the Beakon is born.
The Beakon represents the guiding light of our creative services, designed to attract attention to your business. Styled to be indicative of a navigation symbol and a bottom profile of a penguins beak, this iconic shape now serves as the core building block for our refreshed brand identity.
The Beakon isn’t just a design element; it’s a metaphor for our role as a strategic partner. We’ve woven it into our visual assets to create a design system that’s as cohesive as it is versatile. The simplicity of the shape allows us to use it creatively across all our branding—whether through bold graphic patterns, eye catching overlays, or animated sequences.
Our new strapline, Raising the Bar, further encapsulates what Popi aims to achieve: elevating our clients’ brands through innovation, excellence, and attention to detail.
While our logo’s silhouette remains unchanged, you’ll see it being applied in fresh, innovative ways that speak to the dynamism of our new visual identity.
To experience the full scope of our brand refresh, we invite you to visit our homepage and explore our new look.
If you’re considering a rebrand for your business, feel free to reach out to us at brand@popi.co.uk — we’d love to help you navigate your own brand evolution.
