Cherry

Cherry is a European VC firm with offices in London, Berlin, and Stockholm – and first-hand experience in building companies like Spotify, Uber, and Zalando. Cherry picked us, and this is what happened: a complete brand identity redo, from strategy and visual & verbal identity to a full-fledged website, brand photography, and collateral design.

Services

Brand renewal
Brand strategy
Brand identity
Visual identity
Art direction
Photography
Verbal identity
Copywriting
Web design
Website content
Website development

Brand renewal for an iconic European VC

Cherry wanted to level up their brand strategically, visually, and verbally. We started from the deep end and did our research, using one-on-one interviews, desktop research, and competitor analysis as the primary methods. The findings led us to navigate a few potential directions, but eventually, all roads led to the very core of Cherry: putting founders first. Because that’s how you build companies that last – like their investors have built Spotify, Uber, and Zalando, or like their portfolio founders have built Flixbus, Tacto, and Mondu.

A bold, established, and Cherry-pink visual identity

The original logo serves its purpose with grace and is very dear to the Cherry team. So we didn't fix what isn't broken – instead, we gave the logo a slight glow-up, as well as designed a horizontal version to allow more versatile usage. We also kept the iconic Cherry pink at the core of the visual identity but used it more judiciously: to put the spotlight on founders. Using clear white and black as primary colors communicates establishment and gives pink more of a centerpiece role – alongside its sidekick highlighter, bright yellow. Paired with bold typography and strong contrasts, Cherry definitely makes a shiny, show-stop-confident impression.

The photography concept puts founders in the frames

When we swear by putting founders first, we naturally put them in front of the flashing lights. As Cherry’s founders are scattered across Europe, we tapped into our network of 8,000+ creative freelancers from 100+ countries, and curated just the right photographers to tackle the photoshoot challenge with us. While we handled art direction and project management, they focused on capturing the founder photos just right. Say 'Cherry'—click.

Formulating a firmly founder-focused verbal identity

“Founders first. For companies that last.” That’s a positioning statement and company slogan in one, and also the first part of Cherry’s new verbal identity we unraveled. After nailing that, we defined their selling points and key messaging that cut through the whole website and other materials – using their new, recognizable brand voice. Cherry communicates through an active, elevated, and aspirational tone, highlighting founders and the active role Cherry gives them in building the future. Pretty high-level stuff, huh? We know – and to keep Cherry's tone of voice on a concrete level, we made sure to define clear writing techniques, do’s and don’ts, a brand dictionary, and complete guidelines for writers – so that anyone in their team knows how to Cherrify their tone.

Cherry brand comes alive on a brand-new website

After defining Cherry’s new brand identity, we started applying it to different touchpoints and materials. The primary focus was on renewing Cherry’s website – from information architecture and content writing to website design and development. The new website is built with modern web technologies like Typescript, Next.js, and Sanity. The content management system is easy to use for content creators, which allows the Cherry team to update and extend the website as they keep growing.