Brand Styling
Squarespace Website
Pitch Deck Design
Marketing Collateral
Email Newsletter Branding
The Project Scope
Connie Wong is the founder and leader of the Bay area PR firm Moderne Press. After finding Drop Cap Design™ on Instagram, Connie reached out hoping that we could help her design a new logo for the agency. After having a lovely conversation over the phone and talking about her dreams for the next chapter of Moderne Press, we determined that a full brand restyling and custom Squarespace website was the way to go. So we rounded up the team, including our favorite Squarespace partner Nikki Fanshaw, and sat down to plot out the vision of the rebrand.
For over 10 years, Moderne Press had been serving direct-to-consumer brands and helping them craft unique stories that heightened their company’s visibility within digital media in the channels most frequented by their idea customer. Connie wanted to continue working with these brands while evolving in the industry and working with bigger clients in the space with bigger budgets and opportunities to grow.
After working with a media startup in the social media space, Connie uncovered the intersection between PR and social media, identifying an opportunity to assist emerging brands who wanted to organically gain the attention of the Internet while becoming digital media darlings.
Moderne Press
LOGO Suite
The Challenge
W
ith the new brand style, we wanted to maintain some of the minimalism of the former brand, while elevating the aesthetic to appeal to a higher-end customer base and communicate the experience and credibility of the agency as a whole. Many of Moderne Press’ clients are based in New York, while the firm’s headquarters are in California, so we also wanted to blend the West Coast style with the East Coast hustle in a way that felt natural and effortless.
With minimal digital brands, it can be hard to infuse enough warmth to feel personal and memorable without adding any extra clutter. Add to the fact that we were branding an agency that thrives off social connections and relationships, and minimalism becomes a direction that could easily tarnish the mission of the brand if not handled properly. Luckily, we found a balance that felt uncluttered and serious without stripping the agency of the personality and hard work that got them to where they are today.
WE FELT LIKE OUR BRANDING WAS
but OUR BUSINESS WAS MOVING FORWARD, BUT IT WASN'T REFLECTED IN OUR LOGO, WEBSITE, ETC. AND THEREFORE, WE WEREN'T ATTRACTING OUR
target client.
stale
Visual Concept
ELEGANT MINIMALISM // TIMELESS STYLE // ELEVATED PROFESSIONALism // CALIFORNIA COOL
The vision for Moderne Press is to employ a primarily female team who are passionate about business and community building that can work one-on-one building relationships and platforms for businesses with a strong mission. We wanted this next chapter of Moderne Press to be a time when they can rise to the top and become a trend-setting, progressive PR agency that consistently works with mid to high-level brands who are looking to disrupt their industries and create strong relationships with the public.
With innovative ideas and a creative mindset, Moderne Press is media-focused, elevated, editorial, and energetic. We deployed these objectives through 3 key visual themes: editorial chic, modern business, and urban cool. We decided to lean hard into the shared love of fashion that both New York and California adopt so effortlessly. We can either downplay the style for relatability or elevate for professionalism, giving the brand more flexibility and adaptability based on market trends.
We wanted to create a brand that felt modern and professional but also stylish and aspirational. It’s a mix of trend-worthy visuals with strong, timeless design that makes the agency feel strong while giving each agent a progressive, relatable aura.
LOCATION: CALIFORNIA
INDUSTRY: PUBLIC RELATIONS
The Identity
Fast-pace Elegance with an Urban Edge
The logo palette is gender neutral with a modern structure and feminine grace that speaks to the hustle meets casual tone of Moderne Press. The typography is editorial but has a timeless nature to it that will age well with the brand. This style was inspired by European fashion labels and digital retail brands. It’s particularly fitting for a modern media brand as it so effortlessly blends confidence, fashion, and trends in a way that is both disruptive and well received.
The brand identity was focused on the dichotomy between strength and grace. The idea of having a solid structure and the ability to flow and adapt. This represented the stance of modern brands in the digital media space and the organic, fluid nature of Moderne Press’ process when positioning brands in the Internet spotlight. The result is a brand that feels completely established and also entirely fresh.
Credit
WEBSITE: MADE BY NF
LAUNCHED 2022 / @ModernePress
THE OUTCOME
As you might have noticed, Moderne Press got a brand new look courtesy of our amazing design partner, Drop Cap Design, and we are still riding the high of the launch. Months in the making, we could not be more thrilled with the beautiful results. The Drop Cap team really took the time to listen and went the extra mile to make the experience seamless. They always made time when I had questions and had incredibly insightful, inventive solutions.
Connie Wong, Moderne Press
From the branding deck to the initial look at the website, it felt exciting to see the of our direction in your hands (and eyes).
manifestation
CUSTOM BRANDING EXPERIENCE
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We don’t just create logos, we develop storytelling frameworks — an anchor that allows you to connect with your audience and be recognizable to them online. From this holistic approach, you’ll have more than a style guide at the end of your project, you’ll have an empire ready to disrupt your industry.
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