Evolving an iconic brand
We approached the brand determined to refresh it tastefully and, most importantly, express who Yellow Pages really are today. As we zeroed in on the company's values and vision, we established there was still a deep connection between the brand and the customer. So it was important to us to approach the identity with a balance of traditional and modern focus.
The Brief
The challenge was tough. We were asked to rebrand the 18-year-old, instantly recognisable Yellow Pages. In an age of digitally savvy customers, Yellow Pages were looking to increase their online presence. We approached the brand determined to refresh it tastefully and, most importantly, express who Yellow Pages really are today. As we zeroed in on the company’s values and vision, we established there was still a deep connection between the brand and the customer. So it was important to us to approach the identity with a balance of traditional and modern focus.
The Work
The first step was to reduce the name to just ‘Yellow’ – simple, memorable, evocative and, most importantly, easy to turn into a verb – ‘Yeah, I just Yellowed it’.
They say the world is so saturated with endless variety that, if you want to discover a new species, all you have to do is look closely at your own back yard.We applied this spirit of discovery to the Yellow Pages brand which has, for decades, existed as the repository for all things local. This led to creating the tag line ‘Discover local’ and adopting a friendlier photographic style to help bring people back into the world of local, the universe of Yellow.
We wanted to retain the famous ‘walking fingers’ logo but it needed a modern update. After trying out various iterations we evolved the icon into a streamlined, cleaner version of the hand. The walking fingers became the basis for the logo in combination with an approachable and youthful typeface – still recognisable as Yellow – positioning the brand to face the future.
We redesigned the Yellow website to optimise the user experience and made sure the search function is accessible from anywhere on the site. We also created a new user interface for the Yellow app, designed a new icon system and simplified the content, improving the overall look and functionality for both mobile and tablet.
