How it began
We were contacted by the Director of PryceWilliams, Parrish Pryce-Williams to present how we would approach creating a brand for his new business. We were up against 4 other design agencies for the job, but after we discussed our process and showed him our latest projects — we ended up getting the gig.
We spent a lot of time identifying PryceWilliams’s customer base – which is essentially the banking and fintech sectors. Parrish wanted to appeal to both the challenger brands as well as the more established banks. He also wanted to attract the digital tech startups that have proliferated around the world.
Part of our strategic approach was to research global brands from across the targeted sectors. On the one hand you have your traditional institutions that have rebranded for the modern era — your NatWests and the Deutsche banks. On the other you have the exciting disruptors of the fintech space — the Paypals and Monzos. And then of course, there’s your digital giants, like Spotify and Netflix that sit alongside the startups in the digital world. We recognised right away that the PryceWilliams branding, and its appeal, needed to fit somewhere in between all these players.
As a designer Paul and his team at Herron knew what they were doing, but he also understood our goals and vision as a company. We didn’t want to look like a dated legal or accounting firm, and we wanted to be able to attract some of the newer players in the market.
Parrish Pryce-Williams,
Director
Growing a concept
One of the ways I begin to develop concepts for a new project is to really listen as a client tells me the story of their company, including the journey that they’ve been on and what they think is their vision. Ideally, I like to let them ramble on about it — that’s where I can pick up useful soundbites that have the potential to become larger ideas.
During our kickoff meeting, Parrish told me that being a huge tennis fan, he is inspired by Rafa Nadal’s never say die attitude. No matter how tough the assignment is, Parrish tells himself that he’s the Nadal of the project delivery world and draws on Nadal’s fighting spirit to overcome any challenges.
I thought this comparison was really interesting. So much so, that while I began preparing for the strategy presentation I did some research into Nadal. We had already been exploring popular colour palettes in the sector and had decided to go with a bright orange, as it hadn’t really been used before. I noticed that Nadal also wears a lot of bright oranges and yellows. Which felt like a really nice coincidence — and had some continuity in terms of a brand story.
Rafa Nadal’s never say die attitude is an inspiration to Parrish
When it came to creating the logo, we were adamant that it should be simplistic and feel very modern. We created a range of quirky secondary graphics and iconography to really round out the brand. We wanted it to be able to stand out alongside the more traditional players in the market as well as the startups.
Paul and I worked through many of the initial key steps together. He helped us to identify who we were as a company, what we wanted to achieve, our overall vision and importantly, who our clients and competitors are.
Parrish Pryce-Williams,
Director
Identifying the core vision
One of the things that really resonated with me while listening to Parrish talk about his business, was how driven he was to create positive results for his clients. Parrish is incredibly fast-moving with his approach; as soon as he’s got an idea in mind, he begins putting in the necessary milestones into place to move things forward. For Parrish, and PryceWilliams in general, it’s all about the movement. He wants to generate real progress for the organisations he works with, and will help them quickly overcome any challenges that come their way.
This idea of always moving forward really struck me; it felt like it belonged at the heart of his company. The strap line for PryceWilliams, “Making Progress Happen”, came from that conversation. I think it really speaks to the core message behind PryceWilliams and their vision for the business in the future.
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View the Client Journey
Meet the client – Parrish Pryce-Williams
Get in touch with Herron
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A 360° solution for Herose UK
We’ve been working with the team at Herose UK for over 15 years; it’s been brilliant to see the company’s continued growth and be a part of their journey and support their brand evolution. Our most recent project with Herose UK was to create the campaign and content around their latest offering — the 360° Solution.
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