Beenz.com
Job:12-84823 Title:RP-Graphic Design That Works (LDW)
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Client
Beenz.com Inc. is a company that offers online mer-
chants a universal, global currency that rewards pur-
chases made on the Web. Headquartered in
Manhattan, the company has branches in North
America, Europe, and Asia.
ART DIRECTOR
Nicolas De Santis
FIRM
Twelve Stars Communications
Process
In developing what would become the Beenz logo, designers at the London-based
firm Twelve Stars Communications worked within several parameters. The mark
needed to communicate the idea of money to reflect the client’s product. It needed
to have a fun, friendly feel to appeal to a young audience. And it had to be under-
standable to viewers across the globe. As a starting point, the design team explored
designs based on a single B, the first letter of the company’s name, and eventually
came up with a lowercase b with two horizontal strokes across its ascender. As a
symbol representing a new form of currency, the mark was deemed successful and
was later used as an element in the company’s identity system. But as a company
logo, the team felt the mark wasn’t distinctive enough. “There are too many Bs out
there,” explains designer Nicolas De Santis, who led the project. “We wanted some-
thing that was bolder and friendlier.” So the team shifted its attention to the compa-
ny’s name, using Photoshop to create a three-dimensional illustration of a bean.
After experimenting with various shapes of beans, the team ultimately chose a kid-
ney-shaped one, a form, explains De Santis, that suggests a smile. The team then
added the company’s name to the bean, using a custom typeface whose bold, friend-
ly feel is originally based on Frutiger. Next, the team explored color. “Beenz is global
so we wanted to find a color scheme that was striking, worked well around the
world and would stand out when viewed on a computer screen,” says De Santis. The
solution was a vibrant red and white, a combination, says De Santis, whose commer-
cial success is proven by none other than Coca-Cola.
What Works
The logo, a three-dimensional representation of a bean with the company’s name
spelled out across it in a sans serif face, evokes several associations with money. The
bright red bean recalls the play money of children’s games, while the lowercase b,
which features two horizontal strokes across its ascender, calls to mind monetary
symbols such as the dollar or yen sign.
Because the pun
contained in the
company’s name
does not translate into
Chinese, a separate logo
was created for use in
China. Featuring Chinese
characters, it reads “red
bean,” an Asian symbol
for good luck.
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040-069 84823 10/12/05 2:05 PM Page 61
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