Wolff Olins rebrands Vonage, bringing “quirk” to boring B2B branding

Design agency Wolff Olins has rebranded telecommunications company Vonage, a company that thrived in the early 2000s and became known for its offbeat tone of voice. After the decline of the home phone market, it became a B2B company, yet when Wolff Olins was brought in to rebrand, it wanted to be careful to avoid the tropes of branding in this sphere. As a result, Vonage’s new visual identity centres around a bold, gradient colour palette and charming illustrations and icons, standing out in a corporate environment.

The visual language was designed to “flex across the tech space and into the hearts and mind of developers,” says a statement from the agency. “Rich gradients challenge the more static colourspace of the industry, and the illustration style and verbal identity brings to life the quirk and irreverence that made Vonage memorable in the past. All of it works together to create an experience that’s as delightful as it is helpful.”

Jan Eumann, creative director at Wolff Olins, says whether you’re designing for consumer-facing or corporate-facing brands, your audience – at the end of the day – are people, so it shouldn’t make a difference. “These audiences bring their personal selves to work, with visual patterns and product experiences they’ve learned from brands and apps used daily in their private lives,” he says. So, he continues, “there’s no point in creating ‘corporate’ or sterile looking brands for environments in which businesses operate.”

This ethos led to a conversational and friendly tone of voice for the brand, seen in its photography, illustration, copywriting and even colour choice. The new brand also brings together eight separate businesses under one identity.