Refreshing Setel logo
and branding guideline
Since joining Setel in 2019, I've always wanted to find opportunity to make some tweaks on the original logo. As we slowly improved the visual on the product side, the logo started to feel a bit detached from the new visual direction.
After being on the market for almost 3 years, we've finally found the opportunity to work on this project on top of other brand identity improvements that we were working on. We treated this as a small-scale project, therefore I was given the mandate to work on this independently.
rOLE
Brand, visual &
content designer
Year
2021
Before
After
Setting direction
The sharp-edged S with the blue-turqoise gradient logo has served Setel well over the growth of our business. Beyond the digital footprint, Setel logo is plastered across all of the 1,000+ PETRONAS stations all over Malaysia. However, there are some issues that the old logo has, that need to be addressed in the refresh, including:
Fix the proportion imbalance between variants
Make it work with single color (monotone)
Modernize the look by getting rid of the gradient
Soften the edges of the symbol and logotype to match the overall look of our interface
The logomark
Logomark is a graphic symbol or emblem used to represent the brand without text. For Setel, keeping the "S" symbol is significant to make sure it is still recognisable to the brand when being used digitally or in physical spaces. I spent some time exploring minor design changes , up to slightly major changes, just to see how far can we push the "S" symbol without straying too far from the original mark.
The wordmark
Wordmark is a typographic treatment of the brand name. It sits next to the logomark, and usually won't be displayed on its own. For the refresh, I explored various typefaces that can be used to contruct the the word "Setel" in the nicest way possible. After looking at many options, I've narrowed down few requirements for selections:
The letter "S" has to be slightly wider than the original wordmark, and shouldn't have a compact feel.
The letter "t" need to have a nice terminal to soften the overall look of the wordmark
Setel
Space Grotesk
Setel
Epilogue
Setel
Work Sans
Setel
Sora
Setel
DM Sans
Setel
Plus Jakarta Sans
Final iteration
After further exploration and deliberation with the team, we've decided to go with the combination of these wordmark and logomark. The logomark retain the original "S" shape, but with a more refined structure and a more balanced ratio for light and dark mode. The wordmark feels more cohesive with the wordmark, and has a more approachable feel to it.
I created this logo animation to commemorate the launch of the new logo. It shows the element build up that encompass the logomark. This animation is now being used as ending scene in many Setel promotional videos.
Logo application
Here are some example of how the logo is applied in different digital and physical spaces.
Brand identity system guideline
As part of this project, we've also took some time to refresh our brand identity guidelines with new visuals and content.
Credits
Thanks to Lily Cartina for proofreading and Ili Farhanah for feedbacks on the visual in the brand guideline content