Client: Klara | Deliverables: Brand Identity, Social Media Strategy | Agency: Collective Power
Brand Identity
Klara is a platform that uses an algorithm to match customers with beauty and personal care products based on a unique quiz. The goal is to alleviate the stresses of shopping in an oversaturated market filled with misleading messaging. Our final brand identity blended the calming properties of gradients with the energy of organic shapes to create a personified amorphous blob that represents Klara. In the web design stage of the process, the blob will be animated to subtly morph shapes and colors while following the user's cursor. This represents how Klara as a brand aims to guide users through the entire process of finding products that suit them in an industry that largely leaves customers in the dark and forces them to guess and use trial and error.
The logotype utilizes open kerning to further show openness and transparency and lowercase letters to portray familiarity and friendliness. The colors are subdued to prevent the customer from feeling overwhelmed, but warm to provide a sense of energy. The branding walks the line between feeling forward-thinking and comfortable, which is what Klara aims to do as a brand.
Web Applications
Klara was approaching the official launch, and as a web-based platform, web design was a primary focus. Because the intention of the website is to host a detailed quiz and to show personalized product listings, the founder expressed a strong preference for a very simple and clean design. Incorporating the personified blob and balancing it with plenty of white space and simple navigation allows the platform itself to shine. The simplicity of the design translates to mobile with ease.
Social Media Strategy
Following the personification of the brand identity and imagery, we decided to continue the personal connection between brand and customer on social media. Post primarily fall into two categories: informational and customer focused.
"Informational" content includes in-feed infographics and regular and interactive Q&As and quizzes using features like live and stories. This serves to promote Klara's mission of making the shopping process clearer so customers have an easier time finding the products that work for them.
"Customer-focused" content includes customer profiles and reviews as well as takeovers. This content may take some time to build up as Klara first starts out, but eventually, it will be integral in building the relationship between the brand and customers that will lead them to trust Klara for recommendations and keep coming back. This also promotes the idea that Klara is not just a brand, but is personified.
This sample Instagram shows how these posts work together, and how in the interim as customer content is built up, infographics can be interspersed with photos that match the brand.
Early Directions
The Klara founder wanted a brand identity that encapsulated the brand's mission: to used data science to make shopping for cosmetics and personal care products more transparent. The team and I decided to focus on a brand identity that balanced modernity with boldness. Some of our early directions showed how we could play with color and imagery.
Ultimately, the founder gravitated towards a more minimalist identity and playing with gradients and organic shapes.