e-Types News

18 august 10

Tryg - Truly Nordic

e-Types creates new visual identity for Nordic super-brand  

During the past year e-Types has worked with Tryg on a re-launch of the Tryg brand, aimed at strengthening the company’s position - today the second-largest general insurer in the Nordic region with activities in Denmark, Norway, Finland and Sweden.   

With 4300 employees across the four Nordic countries, e-Types were tasked with changing the different national company profiles and cultures into one consistent powerful Nordic Brand.   

For the new visual identity two important icons have merged – the name Tryg, which means “SAFE” in Danish and the lifebuoy - originally used in the Norwegian logo as a symbol of safety. The merger consolidates Tryg’s ownership of the position as the leading safety provider in the Nordic region.

“With our new creative universe we want to take ownership of our position as the leading provider of peace of mind in the Nordic countries and generate a greater awareness of the positive energy that peace of mind provides,” says Tryg’s Chief Marketing Officer Christian Bjerring.

One of the greatest challenges has been to create a new visual identity that all 4300 employees and the thousands of Tryg customers can identify with, at the same time moving the company’s communication from using worries as a lynchpin in their communication strategy to a new and more positive position.

“With our new campaign we can create a shared Nordic way to communicate where we let go of worries and focus on all the positive that you can create when you achieve peace of mind - allowing you to be at your best.

We are moving from a passive form of peace of mind to an active form where peace of mind is synonymous with being able to make a difference – both for yourself and for others”, says Tryg’s Chief Marketing Officer Christian Bjerring.   

Simply Nordic

The transformation process involved a new common Nordic name and payoff backed up by a new and comprehensive visual identity spanning everything from print to digital media, with simplicity and functionality at it´s very core.    

“When we started working with Tryg they had different design systems across all 4 Nordic countries with countless variations. Now we have one. This shows our focus on simplifying – you don’t feel safe if things are overtly complicated. If you want to unite all the Nordic divisions into one powerful brand, your design concept needs to be simple and sturdy enough to allow it to survive and stay recognizable in the thousand of hands that will work with it over different boarders and cultures. We believe that e-Types have created a design system that will set TRYG free and - in their own words - create peace of mind in their communication and marketing,” says Mari Lea Randsborg, Operations Director at e-Types.

Tryg.com

10 august 10

About Projects

Better space for Better Place

Make-over of Better Place's corporate headquarters

Better Place is a global provider of electrical transport solutions and services championing a shift to more sustainable electric powered vehicles. Solutions that could potentially provide a green hue to a transport sector that most associate with grimy gas-guzzlers and toxic exhaust fumes. As part of an extensive cooperation e-Types developed a new look and feel for the companies Danish headquarters working on the newly re-designed offices (by the very cool multi-disciplinary designers Space), bringing their corporate identity into the very fabric of the every day for Better Place’s employees.

The concept was created around three central principles that characterize Better Place’s philosophy: 1) the joy of motoring and the sense of personal freedom owning a car provides. 2) The vision of a world without exhaust fumes – quite literally a ”Better Place” and finally 3) the move to world that isn’t dependent on fossil fuels – all the while acknowledging the rich heritage of the automobile industry and the debt owed to those pioneers who masterminded the technological advances made up till today.

Using these principles e-Types, worked with three distinct concepts in an effort to bring Better Place’s essence to life while avoiding the usual clichés of corporate décor; the blown-up logo and the design line shouting at you from every wall. Instead the aim was to create a more personal and organic interpretation of the identity - showing the real people behind the technology, so to speak.

First we examined the enormous mark that the automobile has left on our cultural heritage, picking out song lyrics and movie quotes from people like Nat King Cole, Jim Morrison and Tracy Chapman to iconic films like Easy Rider, Rain Man and Sideways. Quotes that pertain to the joy of driving or use the car to describe other aspects of life, creating a (inter)textual montage of typographic statements that now clad the glass facades of Better Place’s conference rooms.

Secondly, e-Types asked the employees themselves what their “Better Place” is, bringing the identity up-close and personal while including the employees in the crafting of what “Better Place” is all about. Answers ranged from “when I’m listening to Abbey Road on vinyl, standing on the Great Wall of China, playing soccer on a warm sunny day, when the rain beats down on the my roof, on the golf course, on the playground with my son Hugo or driving by the sea with the top down”. e-Types tried to visualize these emotions, some times in a more abstract form, sometimes more concretely using photos and text. The many different photos have been framed and hung in clusters in the canteen, the stairways and the halls to create a more informal and intimate feeling.

Thirdly, e-Types and Better Place picked out three major milestones in the evolution of the automobile in modern times: The Ford Mustang, the VW Beetle and the Jaguar e-Type and continued the principle of the photo-clusters into the main hall using these three icons of modern personal transportation. Using this principle of clustering also means that Better Place can keep on adding to their collection of automobiles.

Finally, the whole solution is meant to easily change with the company itself, avoiding the rigid design programmes that end up scarring many corporate headquarters well after the company itself has evolved beyond it. All the statements can be removed and replaced with new ones – either when the culture of the organization demands it, or simply when people grow tired of it and need a change of surroundings. Likewise the framed pictures can be hung, shifted, re-hung and exchanged indefinitely, creating an identity that is as alive as the people who comprise it.  

Better Place

5 juli 10

About Projects

Thrashers

Sacha Maric´s zine "Thrashers" on Dazed Digital

"Sacha Maric’s Thrashers is a series of pictures brought back somehow from a bygone age. The shots, all screen grabs from 80s thrash metal gigs found on YouTube have been compiled into a storyboard of anger and poetic hedonism." (from Dazed Digital)

Jess Andersen from e-Types helped Sacha lay-out the zine.

Read the entire article and check out the beautiful pics here and go have a look at Sacha´s photo work here

18 juni 10

e-Types is hiring!

e-Types is looking for a Digital Project Manager

We are looking for an experienced Digital Project Manager with enough edge, brain and brawn to lift our web identity projects. We aim to develop and deliver  state-of-the-art identity programmes and digital spaces - meaning we expect ambition, passion and the will to set new standards for strategic design and identity development on the web.

e-Types’ approach lies in the juncture between branding, design and communication, with an extensive and diverse client portfolio – from multinationals to local underground theatres, from high-end fashion brands to public institutions. We believe this contamination between fields and genres inspires and stimulates each other, providing us with inspiration and our clients with value. If you, like us, believe this to be true, you will fit in nicely with e-Types.

At e-Types you will be

• Independently scoping projects, drafting proposals, project descriptions and schedules.
• Provide motivational support to your team while keeping an eye on resources spent.
• Independently planning, executing and following up on clients and projects.
• Participating in internal and external project evaluations.• Concept development
• Be a part of the ongoing development of the future eTypes Digital

You are

• Ambitious, playful and progressive
• Updated on digital trends and tendencies – and can inspire the rest of e-Types with it.
• Constantly keeping an eye out for newbizz possibilities.
• In possession of a strong understanding of interactive design and development platforms.
• A hardcore project manager with superior estimating, scheduling, and budgeting skills.
• Able to communicate effectively with clients, creatives, and developers.
• A superior presenter with fluent oral, and written communication skills.
• Fluent in Danish and English

We expect 2-4 years of professional experience heading up projects large and small. You are strong-willed and ambitious, with an eye for aesthetics and the determination that can carry a project through to the end.

Send your application and CV by e-mail marked ”Digital Project Manager” to career@e-types.com. Deadline: ASAP or at the latest the 30th June 2010.
Salary according to qualifications. For further information and enquiries contact, Rasmus Ibfelt or Mathias Jespersen:+45 33 25 45 00.

24 maj 10

About Hype

Brasilia Dice 50

e-Types invited to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Oscar Niemeyer's masterpiece Brasilia

e-Types was invited by Argentine design studio Brasilia Prima to submit a poster design in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Brazilian capitol Brasilia

Working from an interview with Oscar Niemeyer by our very own Michael Thouber, e-Types created a typographic homage to the city, it’s visionary architecture and, of course, to the man behind its creation; Oscar Niemeyer himself.

Take a look at all the other submissions here

17 maj 10

Taking the Ticket

e-Types designs visual identity and web platform for new online booking service

Five theatres subsidised by Copenhagen Theatre (Betty Nansen, Folketeatret, Nørrebro Teater, Republique and Østre Gasværk Teater) have joined forces in creating an online ticket sales and subscriptions platform, designed to give each theatre a stronger online presence as well as providing a convenient booking system for Copenhagen theatre lovers. e-Types designed the visual identity for the new ticket-booking site "billetbillet.dk" which was launched on April 29, 2010.

The design strategy was to allow for the most possible room for the theatres individual identities, preserving the characteristics that make each theatre unique. The solution was driven by the core notion of creating a neutral and spacious platform, much like a gallery space - a space that presents the five theaters as “artists” and the individual plays as their “works of art”.

Furthermore e-Types developed a novel design and layout for a seasonal theatre catalogue, which supports the launch of the site. In previous years’ catalogues, the five theatres under Copenhagen Theatre have shared pages with an additional 40 copenhagen theatres. The new layout is designed with space, ease-of-use and optimum presentation in mind, separating it considerably from the rather dense layout of the previous years’ catalogues.

Copenhagen Theatre is an independent institution under the Ministry of Culture, that was founded with the intention to develop and further diversity in Danish theatre.

Check out billetbillet.dk and maybe even go see a show.

28 april 10

About Hype

10+ exhibition at Danish Design Centre

e-Types' visual identity for Koncerthuset chosen as design milestone for the Noughties

The exhibition ‘10+ Design Forecast’ at the Danish Design Centre examines the trends that characterize the present and those that will come to characterize the future. The exhibition examines ten examples from design history through the first decade of the millennium. Together, they draw a picture of Danish design in the 21st century while offering a glimpse into the future.

According to the curators the past ten years of Danish design history are particularly interesting. Design has developed in completely new directions, mainly as a result of digital and technological developments. Developments that have left their permanent mark on the way we think about design today. The ten examples exhibited at DDC not only illustrate the breadth and diversity of today’s design competence, but also point to a future where design thinking is an integral part of society and progress.

The exhibition is open April 29th – October 31st 2010.

More about the exhibition over at DDC
Plus have a gander and a read about e-Types’ visual identity for Koncerthuset in the case listings here.

20 april 10

About Hype, Academia

India Rising

New book by e-Types’ Thomas Sehested: India is on the verge of becoming a geopolitical and cultural superpower.

India will dominate the global agenda of the future. And it is more about business than incense. The country is working its way back to the World stage as both a cultural, economic and political superpower. In his book, Thomas Sehested gives a detailed account of the diversity of the New India. In words and images he describes the melting pot of religions, economic growth, great poverty, impressing effectiveness and disturbing chaos that is India today.

Thomas Sehested is a historian and works as a senior adviser in e-Types on issues of design and communication. His book is based on a life-long passion for India, which he has cris-crossed during 20 years of travels and interviews spanning a long range of both businesses and individuals.

The book is published at Lindhardt & Ringhof Business on April 20, 2010 and has already achieved high acclaim. Danish Business Daily Børsen calls the book “a must-read” for anyone doing business in or with India and gave the book 5 out of 6 mortarboards in its review.

Thomas Sehsted on the airwaves:
Orientering, April 19, 2010

The book can be ordered at www.lrbusiness.dk / (+45) 33 43 30 00

To contact Thomas Sehested for lectures on India or advisory services: sehested@e-types.com