An-yal at 10: The Evolution of our Visual Identity
Celebrating our 10th anniversary, we take you on a journey through various rebranding phases, highlighting the creativity and challenges that have shaped our visual identity.
2014: A Corporate Start for AN-YAL Consulting
Back in 2014, AN-YAL Consulting was all about marketing and business management training. Our branding? Just a simple text logo, likely in Times New Roman, aiming for a corporate feel. But as a fledgling business, we hadn't yet developed a strong visual identity.
2017: From Consulting to Boutique Agency
Everything changed in 2017. AN-YAL Consulting transformed into 'An-yal,' a boutique digital marketing agency targeting lifestyle brands. Our founder, Chioma Anyalewechi, collaborated with a designer to craft a sophisticated, bold, and inclusive brand identity. Chioma herself took to Adobe Illustrator, creating a logo that was distinctive and memorable.
"To be honest, at first I wasn't sure what I wanted. However, I was certain that the logo should be distinctive, easily recognizable, and feature the company name to enhance recognition and recall.”
The first symbol in the logo is the letter 'A', designed to resemble a female leg kicking out, and that symbolism has not changed to this day," Chioma explains. "And I chose pink and purple to embody boldness, stark confidence, fashion, and innovation."
Late 2017: A Premium Rebrand
As we expanded our portfolio, it became clear that while the current branding looked great on business cards, it wasn't cutting it for our digital platforms. We needed a look that was flexible and screamed premium and high fashion.
By integrating graphic, angular pink and purple shapes with monochrome fashion model images on a mid-gray or white background, we achieved a striking and effective image. Clients were impressed, and we stuck with this identity for over two years.
2019: An Identity Crisis
By 2019, our branding felt outdated and sullen. We wanted something vibrant and contemporary, so we enlisted a young designer for a fresh look.
The result was indeed bright, funky, and youthful, but very quickly after implementation, we realized that we had gone too far in that direction. The oversaturation of random colors, multiple graphic shapes, inconsistency, and overall quirkiness had robbed us of premiumness and exclusivity.
The image was not right for us, and we needed to get ourselves back quickly!
Within months, we reverted to a refined version of our gray-premium identity. However, we'd quickly acknowledge that this branding had become irreversibly tired and needed to be retired.
Late 2019–2023: Bold, Confident and Chic
After hiring an in-house art director with a solid portfolio of premium and luxury lifestyle brands, it was time to rethink our approach completely.
We refined our approach, keeping the model shots but focusing on head and shoulder images. We adjusted our color palette to more saturated, complementary hues, swapped the grey background for a stunning light blue, and redesigned our graphic shapes. This fresh, exciting image accurately represented An-yal's vision and growth.
We maintained this look for four years, making only subtle tweaks along the way.
2023: Embracing Technology and Innovation
By 2023, An-yal had evolved into a full-service agency, partnering with iconic brands and pioneering innovative strategies. We needed a new, clean look that still honored our roots.
Enter 'An-yal Violet'—a vibrant purple inspired by our art director's French pronunciation of violet (VI-O-LE). And so, after six wonderful years, the original pink and purple marriage had ended.
An-yal Violet
We paired this bold purple with solid black or white backgrounds, featuring purposefully artificial-looking AI-generated model images and dynamic scenes from bustling Tokyo. While we considered a complete logo overhaul, our iconic 'A' was too valuable to change drastically. Instead, we updated the typeface to a pseudo-retro font, nodding to early 1980s sci-fi pop culture.
And with this latest rebrand, we seamlessly blend technology, artistry, sophistication, and innovation, ready to take on the future with style and confidence.
Based in Tokyo, An-yal is the leading independent advertising agency for lifestyle brands. Contact us to get ahead with your advertising, marketing and creative needs.
