First, there was a piece of code<\/h2>\n
That\u2019s what Woodpecker was before we even knew we would want to call it somehow. A piece of code with a piece of something that I would\u00a0hardly call an interface. The important thing was we had a cold email automation system that met our\u00a0own needs. And that was for a completely different project. Here\u2019s more on why\u00a0we needed it in the first place:<\/p>\n
How we manage sending cold emails & follow-ups >><\/a><\/h3>\nThen, there was a decision to pivot<\/h2>\n
At the end of the last year, we faced a very difficult decision at our previous start-up: keep going or switch to another idea. Finally, we decided to put the project on hold and take up a new start-up. This time we wanted\u00a0to focus on solving a pain we knew very well from our own experience \u2013\u00a0cold email & follow-up sending.<\/p>\n
We did a lot of research and decided to develop our little piece of code into a fully-functional tool. The next step was to give it some new looks (or in this very case, any looks at all), an awesome name and a logo.<\/p>\n
So why Woodpecker?<\/h2>\n
Our research showed some recurring keywords already well-rooted in the outbound marketing discourse. We wanted to follow this path to came up with a name that will easily become a part of the already existing context and the mindset of our ideal users.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n![\"Brand-Keywords\"](\"https:\/\/woodpecker.co\/blog\/app\/uploads\/2015\/06\/Brand-Keywords.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\nOriginally, with a little help of our friends (with a lot of their help, in fact), we came up with two directions:<\/p>\n
\n- dripping water<\/strong>, connected with the idea of drip campaigns;<\/li>\n
- knocking<\/strong>, connected with persistent but gentle knocking at the door of prospects more than once (follow-ups).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
We chose the knocking direction. And what is knocking persistently, but in a way that is not annoying, yet you can\u2019t help but notice it?<\/p>\n
The woodpecker.<\/p>\n
We felt that all the traits we wanted our brand to express could be expressed by the name Woodpecker<\/strong>. It\u2019s drilling the trees almost automatically, yet at the same time it\u2019s natural and brings good, not harm. We found the name we were looking for.<\/p>\nHow the logo evolved<\/h2>\n
Before we figured out\u00a0our ideal customer’s profile, we thought we would be addressing corporate sales teams.\u00a0We thought of a really determined and competitive person, focused on their quota and closing deals. Here’s what kind of a picture we had in mind.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n![\"4](\"https:\/\/woodpecker.co\/blog\/app\/uploads\/2015\/06\/4-pierwsze-wyobrazenie-klienta-glengarry-glen-300x300.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nThat’s why\u00a0thought of a minimalistic, sharp, and simple iconic logo. Here are some of the first Kinga<\/a>\u2019s sketches.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/woodpecker.co\/blog\/app\/uploads\/2021\/03\/woodpecker-sygnet-sketches.jpg\")
\n <\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/woodpecker.co\/blog\/app\/uploads\/2021\/03\/woodpecker-sygnet-sketches1.jpg\")
\n
The ideal customer research and the logo<\/h3>\n
In the meantime, we realized that we were kind of \u00a0trying to guess who our customer persona would be. And when it comes to the ideal customer profile,\u00a0guessing is\u00a0not what you’re supposed to do.<\/p>\n
So we\u00a0did some more research. We discovered that, as opposed to our initial assupmtion, our ideal customer will rather be a SaaS start-up founder or CEO who already sends cold emails for prospecting and wants to automate the process in his or her company. We\u00a0thought that a minimalistic iconic logo would not work very well for a group of IT entrepreneurs.<\/p>\n
We realized that animal brands are always so graceful, because they allow to create a personality. They also allow to show the personality\u00a0with a logo that represents\u00a0some emotions and gets easily remembered. We needed a woodpecker with a face.<\/p>\n
What does Woodpecker have in common with sports?<\/h3>\n
On our pursuit of the ideal customer’s profile, we thought about competition as a value for a sales team. Competition is also a prerequisite value in sports. We recalled\u00a0numerous logos of sports teams that use various animals as\u00a0their names.<\/p>\n
Although we had changed our focus from corporate sales to start-up founders and CEOs, we were eager to explore the sports-team logo direction and combine it with the personalized Woodpecker\u2019s face showing the right emotion.<\/p>\n
With this challenging task, we turned to Kamil Doliwa<\/a> \u2013 the\u00a0Polish designer who specializes in sports teams’ logos.<\/p>\nAfter reading our longish and detailed brief, Kamil came up with a logo proposition that met our expectations. There\u2019s been a few changes in the Woodpecker\u2019s image along the way, as we were very strict about the emotion we wanted it to express.<\/p>\n
We wanted our Woodpecker to look savvy, focused, and vigilant. The woodpecker\u00a0Kamil proposed as\u00a0first was\u00a0awesome, but it looked kind of\u00a0angry and\u00a0aggressive. We definitely wanted to avoid that.<\/p>\n
It appears that such a little detail as the shape and location of an eyebrow can totally change the emotions the logo is supposed to represent. Here are some alterations were\u00a0trying out.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n![\"woodpecker-oczy\"](\"https:\/\/woodpecker.co\/blog\/app\/uploads\/2015\/06\/woodpecker-oczy.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\nAnd here’s the final version\u00a0we eventually decided to\u00a0make our logo.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n![\"WP_Sygnet_WersjaPodstawowa_CzarneTlo_RGB\"](\"https:\/\/woodpecker.co\/blog\/app\/uploads\/2015\/06\/woodpecker_logo-300x300.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n![\"Woodpecker.co_logo\"](\"https:\/\/woodpecker.co\/blog\/app\/uploads\/2015\/06\/WP_Sygnet_WersjaPodstawowa_BialeTlo_RGB-e1435238151390.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nTo balance the detailed image, we followed Kamil\u2019s suggestion and agreed to go for a simple logotype.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n![\"Woodpecker.co_logo_black\"](\"https:\/\/woodpecker.co\/blog\/app\/uploads\/2015\/06\/WP_Logo_WersjaPodstawowa_Pozioma_CzarneTlo_RGB-300x211.jpg\")
<\/a> <\/p>\n![\"Woodpecker.co_logo_white\"](\"https:\/\/woodpecker.co\/blog\/app\/uploads\/2015\/06\/WP_Logo_WersjaPodstawowa_Pozioma_Bia\u00e0eTlo_RGB-300x211.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n![\"Woodpecker.co_logo_black\"](\"https:\/\/woodpecker.co\/blog\/app\/uploads\/2015\/06\/WP_Logo_WersjaPodstawowa_Pionowa_CzarneTlo_RGB-300x211.jpg\")
<\/a> <\/p>\n![\"Woodpecker.co_logo_white\"](\"https:\/\/woodpecker.co\/blog\/app\/uploads\/2015\/06\/WP_Logo_WersjaPodstawowa_Pionowa_Bia\u00e0eTlo_RGB-300x211.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nWhat\u2019s in it for you?<\/h2>\n
The brand is a hugely important part of your product or service. The process of creation a well-designed brand takes a lot of time and effort for research and brainstorming. But that\u2019s also the\u00a0fun part! Before you unleash you creativity, though, it’s good to keep in mind a few crucial aspects.<\/p>\n
What you should pay attention to when creating your\u00a0brand<\/h3>\n
1.<\/strong> Before you even start really developing your product\/service and brand, think of your ideal customer is. The first thing you’ll need\u00a0is\u00a0to define\u00a0the recipient of all your upcoming actions considering product develoment, marketing, as well as branding.<\/p>\n\n- Who is it that you\u2019re addressing your brand to?<\/li>\n
- What do they like? What will they appreciate?<\/li>\n
- What will they notice and pay attention to?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nOriginally, with a little help of our friends (with a lot of their help, in fact), we came up with two directions:<\/p>\n
- \n
- dripping water<\/strong>, connected with the idea of drip campaigns;<\/li>\n
- knocking<\/strong>, connected with persistent but gentle knocking at the door of prospects more than once (follow-ups).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
We chose the knocking direction. And what is knocking persistently, but in a way that is not annoying, yet you can\u2019t help but notice it?<\/p>\n
The woodpecker.<\/p>\n
We felt that all the traits we wanted our brand to express could be expressed by the name Woodpecker<\/strong>. It\u2019s drilling the trees almost automatically, yet at the same time it\u2019s natural and brings good, not harm. We found the name we were looking for.<\/p>\n
How the logo evolved<\/h2>\n
Before we figured out\u00a0our ideal customer’s profile, we thought we would be addressing corporate sales teams.\u00a0We thought of a really determined and competitive person, focused on their quota and closing deals. Here’s what kind of a picture we had in mind.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nThat’s why\u00a0thought of a minimalistic, sharp, and simple iconic logo. Here are some of the first Kinga<\/a>\u2019s sketches.<\/p>\n
\n<\/p>\n
\nThe ideal customer research and the logo<\/h3>\n
In the meantime, we realized that we were kind of \u00a0trying to guess who our customer persona would be. And when it comes to the ideal customer profile,\u00a0guessing is\u00a0not what you’re supposed to do.<\/p>\n
So we\u00a0did some more research. We discovered that, as opposed to our initial assupmtion, our ideal customer will rather be a SaaS start-up founder or CEO who already sends cold emails for prospecting and wants to automate the process in his or her company. We\u00a0thought that a minimalistic iconic logo would not work very well for a group of IT entrepreneurs.<\/p>\n
We realized that animal brands are always so graceful, because they allow to create a personality. They also allow to show the personality\u00a0with a logo that represents\u00a0some emotions and gets easily remembered. We needed a woodpecker with a face.<\/p>\n
What does Woodpecker have in common with sports?<\/h3>\n
On our pursuit of the ideal customer’s profile, we thought about competition as a value for a sales team. Competition is also a prerequisite value in sports. We recalled\u00a0numerous logos of sports teams that use various animals as\u00a0their names.<\/p>\n
Although we had changed our focus from corporate sales to start-up founders and CEOs, we were eager to explore the sports-team logo direction and combine it with the personalized Woodpecker\u2019s face showing the right emotion.<\/p>\n
With this challenging task, we turned to Kamil Doliwa<\/a> \u2013 the\u00a0Polish designer who specializes in sports teams’ logos.<\/p>\n
After reading our longish and detailed brief, Kamil came up with a logo proposition that met our expectations. There\u2019s been a few changes in the Woodpecker\u2019s image along the way, as we were very strict about the emotion we wanted it to express.<\/p>\n
We wanted our Woodpecker to look savvy, focused, and vigilant. The woodpecker\u00a0Kamil proposed as\u00a0first was\u00a0awesome, but it looked kind of\u00a0angry and\u00a0aggressive. We definitely wanted to avoid that.<\/p>\n
It appears that such a little detail as the shape and location of an eyebrow can totally change the emotions the logo is supposed to represent. Here are some alterations were\u00a0trying out.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nAnd here’s the final version\u00a0we eventually decided to\u00a0make our logo.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nTo balance the detailed image, we followed Kamil\u2019s suggestion and agreed to go for a simple logotype.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/a> <\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n
<\/a> <\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\nWhat\u2019s in it for you?<\/h2>\n
The brand is a hugely important part of your product or service. The process of creation a well-designed brand takes a lot of time and effort for research and brainstorming. But that\u2019s also the\u00a0fun part! Before you unleash you creativity, though, it’s good to keep in mind a few crucial aspects.<\/p>\n
What you should pay attention to when creating your\u00a0brand<\/h3>\n
1.<\/strong> Before you even start really developing your product\/service and brand, think of your ideal customer is. The first thing you’ll need\u00a0is\u00a0to define\u00a0the recipient of all your upcoming actions considering product develoment, marketing, as well as branding.<\/p>\n
- \n
- Who is it that you\u2019re addressing your brand to?<\/li>\n
- What do they like? What will they appreciate?<\/li>\n
- What will they notice and pay attention to?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
- knocking<\/strong>, connected with persistent but gentle knocking at the door of prospects more than once (follow-ups).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n