YOUR JOB: Make our Software-as-a-Service HR firm 'hep.' OUR JOB: Look up 'hep' and then be it.
a logo project by Stokefire

Creative brief

The buyer added updates to the brief. Read them.

LET ME TELL YOU ABOUT US:

IMPORTANT NOTE: IF WE REQUEST AN ITERATION FOR YOUR DESIGN WE GUARANTEE A MINIMUM PAYMENT OF $15.00 US FOR THIS ADDITIONAL WORK. This is NOT a payment to license your ideas, merely an acknowledgment that the work you have provided is promising and worth paying (at least something) to see refined. If your design is ultimately selected you will not be eligible for any iteration payments, since this payment is meant explicitly for those whose concepts are not selected. These payments will be made directly to the participants since crowdSpring does not facilitate this process for us. (We're working to fix some of the imbalances designers experience in crowdsourcing. If you like this idea please let us know... and if you have ideas for refining it we're all ears.)

Onto the project...

Earlier submissions are better since the client will see the best concepts in three phases. Late additions won't have the time for tweaks that the client may request pre-selection.

Our client is a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) firm selling HR services to small and medium sized companies. After a few years in business they came to realize that their existing name was holding them back. (It actually described them as being in an industry that they quite frankly have nothing to do with.) So... they hired us to rename them. And we did.

Enter Bamboo HR.

Here's why the name works (from the client's perspective)
• We (and our clients) grow rapidly
• We are environmentally responsible
• We are versatile (can be used in many ways)
• We are highly efficient – providing exceptional results with limited input
• We have natural predators (Damn Panda Bears! AKA Business Competitors…)
• We are flexible (can be twisted or shaped)
• You can’t keep us down (and you can’t keep our clients down either)
• We scale to any size (from the good luck plant [one] to a forest [millions])
• We can withstand great forces (client changes, market shifts…)
• You can make an entire house out of it – it’s where HR lives

Our tone is Personable, talented, fun, dedicated, consistent, and supportive…
These adjectives mirror the qualities you would expect in a real world HR professional. It reflects our typical user as well as the type of person and/or organization with whom they wish to work.


HERE IS WHAT WE NEED:

We need a logo! We evaluate each candidate on the following six criteria:
1) Fidelity to personality and performance. Upbeat professional attitude, highly capable and efficient platform for SMBs. An elegant solution.
2) Availability of imagery. Image must be available for trademark, not use any stock photography or other stock elements, and should not be similar to other marks in the SaaS, HR, or general office automation category.
3) Intangibles. Though hard to measure, the image should be aesthetically pleasing – with no jarring elements or outlandish techniques that distract from the brand. Think "iconic" not detailed or finessed. Simple is better than complex.
4) Overarching need is to convey a sense of professional capability with real (friendly) personality.
5) Tangibles – The logotype should be easy to read and visually make sense of. The colors should be defensible in supporting the brand.
6) Strategy – The logo should be materially different from competitive marks and should support the various potential uses of the bamboo metaphor.


OUR TARGET AUDIENCE IS:

Small to mid-sized businesses with between 100 and 500 employees with disparate systems, work duplication, and no strong solution to HR information services.
The users vary widely in technical ability, though most would be considered average. They’re familiar with spreadsheets, but typically not programming.
The audience includes the target users (HR professionals, office managers, small company COOs) and the financial and operational decision-makers they work with (CFO, VP Finance, COO, CEO, President.)

We want them to think of us as the friendly and approachable firm they'll hire to manage their staff while they get on with the business of actually doing business.

Visually we need to gently break the mold of the traditional HR SaaS image. We don’t want unicorns and ponies, but we also don’t want the anonymous color-square with our name next to or below it.
The messaging for the company is professionally casual. It’s easygoing authority, not dry legal-speak or in-your-face attitude. We’re as jargon-free as possible, unless that’s the only way to convey a legal issue.
Words the client believes are representative of the brand:
• Simple
• Helpful
• Efficient
• Effective
• Easy-to-use
• Intuitive


WE LIKE THESE DESIGNS:

See the attachment for examples.

Mint.com, Basecamp, and Beanstalk are all excellent examples of designs that work. Especially the integration of the plant metaphor with the first letter of the name as in Beanstalk.

WE ABSOLUTELY MUST HAVE (or we don't want to see) THIS IN OUR DESIGN:

No Stock Art.
Nothing Remotely Like Clip Art.

Everything else? Pretty much fair game.

Looking forward to a great project!