I joined Census as the first (and currently, sole) designer in early 2021. My first task was a visual identity overhaul, a rebrand from the inside. That started as a verbal exercise in brand strategy to define direction and intent.
The Creator and the Sage were easy to identify as the Brand Archetypes of Census very early. Census is data-driven and requires an element of education and academic guidance, hence the Sage. Census is also a creative outlet, allowing for the experimentation of data sets for unique outcomes, hence the Creator.
We further dove into the Brand Attributes and landed on four key words: Bold, Trusted, and Savvy. Those words unpack a bit more into Bold: energetic, expressive, opinionated, and visionary; Trusted: analytical, reliable, focused, and dependable; and Savvy: idealistic, delightful, brilliant, and winsome. These keywords allow us to frame visual and verbal content through these concepts.
Along with identifying key personas, mission, and vision, we had a framework to begin to build upward.
The first (and last) step began with generating the mark.
Hexagons, directional shapes, sparks...
I thought I’d hit pay dirt in the first few days with a data stack icon. But this misses the point — Census isn’t a warehouse.
Right... wrong
Not long after, I created a new mark. At least this one hit the target but was still wasn’t a bullseye. It just didn’t feel right.
Missing the mark
The next iteration got so close. The nugget was there but it need polish.
So close
A few tweaks and it was finished — Census had a new logo! I think this passes the Rorschach test of industry. It says data.
Now to build it all out...
