Cloud Virtual Servers is a Kentucky cloud storage brand from DMD Data Systems (now Volta Inc.) and The Kentucky Center for Rural Development. We designed its logo, brand identity, brochure and landing page design, and the logo and brochure took First Place at the 2012 Kentucky Association of Government Communicators Award of Excellence.
Project at a Glance
- Client: Cloud Virtual Servers, DMD Data Systems (now Volta Inc.) and The Kentucky Center for Rural Development
- Year: 2012
- Services: logo design, brand identity, brochure design, landing page design
- Timeline: over a month and a half
- Recognition: First Place, 2012 Kentucky Association of Government Communicators Award of Excellence
The Challenge: Give a Cloud Storage Service a Face
Founded in 2012, Cloud Virtual Servers is a data storage company by DMD Data Systems, now Volta Inc., and The Kentucky Center for Rural Development. Giftbox Creative was approached to design a new logo for their brand, along with marketing collateral that would include a brochure, brand identity, and landing page design.
This was clear that this project would be forward-thinking in its approach. It is diving into the world of cloud-based storage as a niche industry as a challenge for CRD because localizing it as a service when they don’t have a firm identity was both the challenge and the opportunity.
Making it affordable for larger companies and easy to work with people who are also may not be as tech-savvy. Michael Cornett, Director of Marketing and PR at The Center for Rural Development, was looking for something that would be pervasive in its approach and iconic through the service which the product provides.
Although, far too many tech companies would play on a direct correspondence on technology with symbolic elements of micro and macro equipment.
This is the apparent theme that was surfacing through the design research process. Either it ridged the logo with jagged edges, displayed a literal icon of the product, or used ethereal typography akin to something you’d see in an episode of Star Wars.
There was an approach that came to mind that has been around in the technology space that could be an asset, a horizontal stroke similar to the one used for IBM by Paul Rand in 1972.
The Video Ad
A short video ad to go with the new brand.
The Logo: A Rounded Lowercase Wordmark
The final logo in its color versions, how it is built on a grid, and the margin rule that keeps it clean.
The Idea: A Line That Floats Like a Cloud
The industry has recognized this as the poster child design element for tech. As simple as it may be, just having a stroke with no ties to the messaging or the name would need a lot more to pull this off convincingly.
Notably, having it function as a logotype that could be for multiple purposes as a form of an asset just as much as it would be a part of the complete brand system.
The logotype uses a rounded approach to the anatomy in all lowercase to make it more approachable to companies in smaller markets, which conveys a relatedness and care.
After researching other tech space players and examining other brands such as IBM, who rule technology, patterns emerged.
During the process of examining several other players in the same space and the overall direction that brands use to communicate technology.
The use of a line was the most obvious. The identity combined with a well-rounded typeface resembling the lightness of a real-life cloud.
The line was then aligned to float above the letter as a symbol of a cloud-based service covering its customers.
And because this element choice is so versatile, we can use this in many applications and tools for implementing it in a diverse range of communication assets from the simple to the complex.
The brand identity complete with acceptable usage rules, logo geometry, typography usage, and lifestyle mockups to make sure that the identity stays intact no matter who applies the logotype and in what context they will always have consistent flexibility.
What’s great about this application, being straightforward and having a visual play with tech and environment, is that it thinks in terms of what’s coming in a timeless sense without being trendy.
The Brand Identity: Guidelines, Stationery and Brochure
A brand guidelines poster, letterhead sizes, business cards, the brochure and a stationery set.
The Result: First Place at the 2012 KAGC Awards
Over a month and a half long project the logo scope mockups range from vehicle wraps, pens, brochures, digital media applications, signage, and trade show booths.
What’s even more impressive is that the logo & brochure project captured First Place in the 2012 Kentucky Association of Government Communicators Award of Excellence — garnering attention and recognition for the company.
Brand Mockups: Pattern, Tote Bags, Network and Vehicle Wrap
Concept mockups showing how the brand pattern and logo can stretch across products and vehicles.
Billboards and Ads
Concept mockups of billboard, airport and Facebook ads using the “Never lets you down” line.
Typographic Patterns
Type-only graphics that use the brand colors and the messages “Never lets you down,” “Be protected” and “Completely safe.”
What We Made
- Logo and logotype with color versions, geometry and margin rules
- Brand guidelines covering logo usage, typography and color
- Stationery: letterhead, business cards and a stationery set
- Tri-fold brochure
- Brand pattern and typographic graphics
- Landing page design
- Concept mockups for tote bags, a vehicle wrap, billboards and ads
- Video ad
Cloud Virtual Servers Logo Design FAQ
What did Giftbox Creative design for Cloud Virtual Servers?
A new logo and brand identity, a brochure and a landing page design, plus the guidelines and mockups that show how it all works together.
Why is there a line above the logo?
Lots of tech brands use a horizontal stroke, like IBM did in 1972 with Paul Rand. We floated the line above the letter so it reads like a cloud covering the customer.
Why a rounded, lowercase logotype?
It feels approachable and caring, which matters for smaller markets and people who are not tech-savvy.
How long did the project take?
A little over a month and a half.
Did it win anything?
Yes. The logo and brochure won First Place at the 2012 Kentucky Association of Government Communicators Award of Excellence.
The Short Long Of It
Cloud storage can feel cold and techy. We went with a friendly lowercase logotype and a floating line, then built the guidelines, stationery, brochure and mockups so the brand stays consistent. It earned First Place in 2012.
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