Alchemy Internal Brand Story - Alemba
Transcript of Alchemy Internal Brand Story - Alemba
Luke, this is your Alemba.Our brand story
C O N F I D E N T I A L
GenesisIn the beginning, there was alcohol...
It was the night following a successful event.
Simon, James and Mita were enjoying the Vegas nightlife in
The Boiler Room when Simon started to stare in wonder at the
array of coloured bottles on the shelves.
Mita, fearing he’d enjoyed one too many cocktails, asked what
was wrong. “Eureka!”, he shrieked, for Simon had seen the
future of Alemba, and it was alcohol alchemy.
Ignoring the old saying, “what happens in Vegas, stays in
Vegas”, Simon and Mita promptly e-mailed Andrew...
synugeMarch 25, 2015 2:19pm
Hyperchromatic!
March 25, 2015 The Boiler Room, Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas
3
...but first, a history lessonThe Alemba name
They say you have to look back to move forward. (They also say a watched pot never boils — they know nothing.)
Alchemy has been part of the Alemba DNA since the beginning
— it’s where our name comes from (some light reading on the
left for you — there’ll be a test afterwards).
This scientific foundation has informed everything relating
to the Alemba brand and ethos from day one. This extends
to the logo ‘orbs’ which have also been a constant since the
beginning: atom-like, they hint to science; they represent ITSM
users connected together; multiple solutions all under the one
roof and, most importantly, they look cool.
So, fellow Alembics, let’s take a trip through time...
The name Alemba is derived from the word ‘alembic’, from the Arabic: al-anbīq, meaning “still”. A quick dictionary consultation will tell you that an alembic is an alchemical still consisting of two retorts connected by a tube, formerly used to distil liquids.
Drawing on the philosophical tradition of Alchemy (most commonly associated
with the mythical process of turning base metals into noble metals such as gold
and silver), the term ‘alembic’ can also be used in a figurative sense to refer to the
refinement and distillation of knowledge and creative thought.
It is this metaphorical use of the word on which the brand Alemba was built. The
idea of recognising the potential of raw material and distilling it into a purer, more
refined transmutation is one that has come to characterise Alemba’s business and
software development practices.
Alemba’s revolutionary vFire IT Service Management solution embraces the
principles of alembics, distilling the raw power of an Enterprise-grade ITSM system
to offer our customers a user-focused interface underpinned by the concepts of
Gamification, education and enjoyment.
This philosophy is also the cornerstone of our approach to customer service. At
Alemba we aim to serve as the alembic, or transformative catalyst, to your business.
Our range of services and software applications work together to help align your
organisation’s key resources in the optimal way to deliver a holistic, refined IT
Service management strategy that is pure gold.
2007
July 24, 2007
Alemba is bornThe connecting atom logo image reinforces the scientific nature of Alemba’s name.
5
The brand before timeAlemba evolves
Things got serious in 2010. The iPhone was continuing to make waves in the industry and Laurence — a one-man Apple sales team — was getting everyone at Alemba on the shiny icon bandwagon.
The Alemba logo was turned into a lickable, celebration of
colour. It was a much stronger brand than before with orbs
that could work equally well on their own. Neutraface was
employed as the brand font — a unique typeface with a modern
feel yet an art-deco elegance. It was a font choice years ahead
of its time by the way — it’s everywhere now.
We’d come a long way since 2007 but we’re not the sort to
rest on our candy-coloured laurels now, are we?...
Say “hi” to FireflyvFire’s first incarnation: Firefly. Although, like the TV show of the same name, it didn’t last long...
Pop!Andrew gets in a designer grump:
“Lose the faux 3D”, he says. We lose the bubbles;
everything goes flat...
OctoberApril April
July, 2010
Alemba 2.0As Alemba grows, Apple’s influence in the industry (and at Alemba, thanks to Laurence) spreads to the logo. It’s updated with new, good-enough-to-lick, colourful orbs and a new font — Neutraface.
I’m forever blowing bubblesLinking in with the new logo, bubbles are used as a fun — we’ll come back to that — background element everywhere. Laurence grows very attached to them.
20112010 2012 2013
vFire is bornFirefly’s light goes out.
It’s renamed vFire.
Seriously fun softwareWith vFire’s innovative interface, gamification fever takes over Alemba and a strapline is added to tell the world that we’re not like all the others. We’re fun!
With next generation software that runs on PCs,
Macs and iPads, Alemba can help you keep more
balls in the air. We’ll give you an instant prize if
you see anything else like vFire at the show.
Call 0203 479 7900
Service desk software. Support. Consultancy. Experience.
IT SUPPORT LIKE A JUGGLINGACT?
WE CAN HELP.
[email protected] www.alembagroup.com
home services products company forums contact us white papers login
welcome to Alemba.
020 3479 7900
consultancy. development. support. experience.the alemba difference.
Alemba is an IT Service Management consultancy with a difference. We focus on detailed product knowledge to ensure that your ITIL project will succeed. Our tool of choice is vmware’s Service Manager application (formerly Infra) and our unparalleled experience with this suite enables us to shape it quickly and easily to your needs - from configuration advice to code development.
See our Services page for examples of recent projects.
Infra Configuration specialists and Infra Certified Developers
with years of experience, Alemba can help you with any Infra
project.
IT service management • Infra Configuration • Infra Certified Developers • vmware Service Manager • vFire
Copyright © 2012 VMware Service Manager (Infra) Support and Consultancy from Alemba. All Rights Reserved.
latest news.
15/02/12 Global User Conference 2012
After the success of last year’s event, we are delighted to announce we are holding the 2012 VMware Service Manager Global User Conference at the prestigious Woodlands Park Hotel in Surrey.
Read more >
01/02/12 vFire. Now on the App Store.The client version of vFire is now available to download on the iTunes App Store. Easy to use, slick and built from the ground up for the iPad; IT support has never been so much fun!
Read more >
ALEMBAGLOBAL
USERCONFERENCE
2012
ho
t!
IT SUPPORT LIKE A JUGGLING ACT?
WE CAN HELP.
“Our business simply could not run without Alemba’s solutions behind us.”
Joe Bloggs, Northgate Information Solutions
Stepping up our gameArmed with our new strapline, we start
building strong marketing collateral including exhibition graphics, adverts and
a funky new website.Appy daysWork begins on a
native iPad app.
May
Hi, Melvin!Laurence employs Melvin, an Atlantic Puffin, as Alemba’s brand ambassador. He spends most of his time travelling, lounging around, sunbathing, and flirting with girls at exhibitions. (Melvin, not Laurence.)
Stand and deliverAlemba’s new look is shown off in public at
SDITS, London. Bubbles!
7
New beginningsA new brand for a new Alemba
It started as an idea when working on website visuals in 2012 — a flatter, more modern, brand.
The change didn’t happen overnight. Heated discussions
between Simon, Laurence and Mita lasted weeks. After
Mita had beaten them into submission, Marketing went into
overdrive. Everything was updated — even the Melvin toys.
You know, Melvin? The puffin? Ask Laurence.
Anyway, the biggest thing to happen to the Alemba brand
was actually not even related to design. It was the deal in mid-
2014 to partner with VMware. The influx of investment, staff
and customers meant Alemba was now truly one of the big
players in the industry. Our brand needed to reflect that...
2014
Back to flatThe highlights, gradients and bevels are all removed to create a simpler, stronger brand.
JuneMarch April
Alemba develops vFire, the innovative ITSM application that allows users to engage with an enterprise-grade ITSM system in a fun way.
AboutAlemba
alembagroup.com
S U C C E S S S T O R Y
alembagroup.com
Cardiff University:Implementing an HR System into an ITSM Tool
The Customer
Founded in 1883 Cardiff University boasts 6000
staff members and 28 000 students across two
main campuses, three colleges and 27 schools.
Cardiff University and Alemba:
The Partnership
Cardiff University procured Infra v8 through an EU
tender process in December 2007, and presently
owns 70 concurrent and 60 named licenses.
The university has held a maintenance contract
with Alemba since December 2010.
Enterprise ITSM software
alembagroup.com
Putting the Fun into FunctionalityCombining a simple yet striking design interface with deep ITSM functionality, vFire Officer has revolutionized the way support staff interact with their ITSM systems.
O F F I C E R
alembagroup.com
Self-Service Portal that’s a joy to useDesigned with user enjoyment in mind, Alemba’s vFire Customer Portal re-imagines the way your customers interact with the IT department.
P O R T A L
We’re still fun by the wayA simple message for the ITSM
world, seen here against the backdrop of a delightful “floral vomit” patterned hotel carpet.
October
.com and get itWe are now the proud
owners of alemba.com!
July
Fanning the flamesFireSM is announced at SITS 2013. Although development is halted due to an exciting announcement around the corner...
2014
Under new management!A cheeky announcement to say that
VMware Service Manager is now Alemba’s!
Under newmanagement
Visit stand G2 for more informationalemba.com
Pure exhibitionistsA confident brand and strong message combine with a striking video and funky polo shirts to make Fusion 14 in Washington a roaring success.
Bye Melvin!Our puffin mascot gets turned into a USB stick. Accessing your data by seabird decapitation has never been so much fun.
November
98
Present dayWhere do we go from here?
A good brand is never static. It lives and breathes, responding to internal and external forces. To adapt yet stay recognisable is the sign of a strong brand.
An opportunity presented itself when we tried to register
Alemba’s logo as a trademark. Shutterstock contested our
application since they used an icon with a similar configuration
of orbs. Simon, turning lemons into lemonade (a true alchemist)
was not perturbed.
“Why don’t we change the logo, Andrew?”, he said.
“Do you have any ideas floating around your head that you’d
like to play with?”
Andrew, always up for a challenge (after a whine and a
wine, anyway) went off and came back with some concepts.
Some awful, some good, but one in particular showed promise.
It all started April 2015...
June 20162015
Rolling out the pink carpetShowing our face at several events, each one bringing the same slick stand visuals, Alemba builds buzz within the industry. The Alemba stand at SITS 2015 was arguably the best positioned and most striking there.
vFire mobile launchesWith a new cleaner design, vFire mobile shows a simpler interface.
Less fun, more function.
April
Repositioning AlembaWith ‘fun’ well and truly gone (well, we like to think we still have a degree of quirk) a new mission statement was needed. “Service Management Software” is used as a temporary strapline. Meanwhile, cue a monumental brainstorm session resulting in Alemba’s relation to A L C H E M Y .
Black is the new blackA bold new look is presented
for Service Management 2015 in Sydney. The design — a circle
of merged orbs — is a result of thoughts on alchemy.
August
11
What’s in a name?A new USP
April, 2015
After weeks of deliberation, ‘alchemy’ was it. Evocative and embodying everything Alemba stands for — it was perfect.
Ironically, it had been staring us in the face all this time.
Do you remember where the name Alemba comes from?
(We told you you’d be tested).
That’s right, Alemba comes from alembic — an alchemical still.
From then on, the new strapline informed the design process:
The Alchemy of Software and Service
The logo was now on black. Where once we had bubbles in
our backgrounds, now we had an array of orbs all in the
Alemba colours; additively mixed to create bright whites and
different shades.
We saw what we had made and it was good. But it wasn’t time
to rest...
13
The Alemba EquationHere comes the science bit — concentrate!
July, 2015
Exploring an idea as much as humanly possible is part of the fun of a branding exercise. Simon, as is his wont, wanted to try introducing an equation into the mix.
Something that would describe Alemba’s solutions in a simple,
scientific form. A clever little equation that would give people
reason to stop, think and give a wry smile when they crack it.
ucontrol
(infrastructure) i
“Great, Simon!”, we said. “Whaaaat?”, we thought.
Perhaps a bit too high concept but it’s all part of the journey.
What bothered Andrew more at this point was the Alemba
logo and fancy new imagery was just... not... quite... working.
Answer: Giving you (u!) control over complex infrastructure
15
Logo go-goIt’s served us well, but it’s time for a change
October, 2015
The boldness of the Alemba logo was at odds with the new clean typography, and the coloured orbs clashed with the funky alchemy ones. Something had to give.
Countless designs were made: removing the logo orbs,
lightening the font weight, trying new orbs, adding dots,
adding lines... nothing was working.
Andrew grew despondent. It was a dark time. He started
drinking whisky, listening to Radiohead, watching Requiem for
a Dream on loop.
Then — as before with alchemy — the answer was staring us in
the face. Particles.
As part of the alchemy brainstorming session, Andrew had
created some ‘particles’ to use as a background. Now, that
might work...
s e r v i c e m a n a g e m e n t s o f t w a r e s e r v i c e m a n a g e m e n t s o f t w a r e
alembas e r v i c e m a n a g e m e n t s o f t w a r e
s e r v i c e m a n a g e m e n t s o f t w a r e
alemba
s e r v i c e m a n a g e m e n t s o f t w a r e
alembas e r v i c e m a n a g e m e n t s o f t w a r e s e r v i c e m a n a g e m e n t s o f t w a r e
alemba
s e r v i c e m a n a g e m e n t s o f t w a r e
alemba alembas e r v i c e m a n a g e m e n t s o f t w a r e
s e r v i c e m a n a g e m e n t s o f t w a r e
alemba_ _ _ _ _ _
s e r v i c e m a n a g e m e n t s o f t w a r e
alembas e r v i c e m a n a g e m e n t s o f t w a r e
alembas e r v i c e m a n a g e m e n t s o f t w a r e
alemba
17
The Big BangA new brand is born
October, 2015
And there it was. An explosion of colour in space. Dynamic, striking, full of life — and beautiful.
They can be fashioned into any shape required, coloured
however we want them — they can even be animated with
relative ease.
Surely these ‘alchemy particles’ could be used as the basis of
the new logo? Worth a try... (Andrew’s sanity was at stake.)
19
From a small seed...One logo, 1,000,000,000 possibilities
November, 2015
The particles are generated using a ‘number seed’ — a billion combinations are possible. Great! Now to find the best one...
Finding just the right combination took a long, long time.
Changing the seed, the number of orbs, the flow rate, the
angle. Some would look great but not all the Alemba colours
would be represented. Others might be too blurred, or not
enough. Randomly generating a logo is harder than it sounds.
Finally, the perfect one was found. Well, almost perfect.
One tweak from Tom — “swap those colours around” — and
that was that.
The new Alemba brand was born.
21
Back to the futureOver to you...
May 31, 2016
After 13 months of development, Alemba’s new brand is ready for the world to see.
It’s a brand we can be proud of. It’s modern, yet links to
Alemba’s history. It’s dynamic, but structured. It’s quirky, with
professionalism.
The orbs embody everything it means to be at Alemba: a
diverse mix of people working together, creating something
great. And, of course, it looks cool.
The energy of the brand will enthuse customers, old and new.
Now go tell them about it.
Simon Nugent
Carolyn Jones
Tom Bailey
Andrew Till
Mita Morris
Elzette Wilkinson Rebecca Lennon
Y O U R P E R S O N A L L O G O
23