Malt’s new brand identity embraces a world of choices
2020 is the year where choice has been taken away from people. In life. And at work too. Companies and independent workers alike were forced to quickly find ways to stay afloat. It’s also been a time when we all came to the realization that work wasn’t just about earning a living. It is about connecting with others, opening up to them. To become better professionals and better people.
At Malt, we believe we can write the next chapters together. By connecting freelancers with organisations every day, we are on the frontline of shaping the Future of Work. We are raising the bar on teamwork. We’re trying to make the recruiting world more human, positive, and empowering. So we can open up a world of opportunities, flexibility, and freedom. A world where, led by a mutual sense of community, collaboration and transparency, we can work the way we want to. With the people we want to.
This is what we call the new work order.
It is all about agility, innovation, and impact. The freedom to choose the right environment, the right tools, the right trust-based culture, and the right people. At Malt, we have the opportunity to play our own part, by putting choice back in people’s work lives.
These past months will go down in history as the time when people experienced a whole new way of working, and freelancing showed us what the future could look like. Today, we are unveiling a new brand identity to reflect and support our ambitions for a new work order.
Let’s build it together.
Malt community, the secret sauce in our rebranding methodology
You got it, Malt community is at the heart of our company and what we do. Needless to say, we wanted our new brand and product experience to resonate and be loved by both freelancers and companies alike. That’s why we reached out to them to understand the value of freelancing for both, how they like working together, and the different challenges they face.
More individual insights helped us cement and validate our visual identity. Quickly enough, it became pretty clear it was all about Choice. A pretty good lead, given that this is just what Malt offers.
Because we can’t be our own judges, we worked together with Koto, our creative agency, and more than 15 freelancers. Working with Malt community members on a daily basis is in our DNA. Having them help us at every step of this rebranding process was key to its success.
Our new visual identity
We are evolving with a refined logo. The Brew — Malt’s symbol — reflects the blend of expertise, diversity and knowledge from our community, representing the power of choice we bring to the world of work.
New brand, new faces in the community
Because Choice is central to everything we do, it was quite obvious that we needed to reflect that concept in our photography guidelines. It is all about telling stories about teamwork, in a real, authentic, bright, and optimistic way. That means real people, working (for real), in their actual work environment. Treating both clients and freelancers as stars. And letting the magic do its thing when the right freelancers and project owners find each other.
One single strong Malt brand
Malt is our main brand and marketplace, but not only. It contains our advanced SaaS products as well, offering a range of different innovative features. Such as a very fast and efficient search engine powered by AI, and many other management tools and services for freelancers and clients to enable better choices and matches.
True Colours
At Malt, we have a (big) thing for joy, optimism, and positivity. That’s where the bold new colour palette comes in. Malt Pink is our lead colour and a key signifier of our brand, supported by six other modern colours, illustrating the diversity found in the community’s talents.
New Fonts
We use two fonts at Malt. The first one is Agrandir. It is bold and direct, just like us. It brings attention to our messages. The other addition is Moderat. Easily legible for retaining details and information. Together, they make the Malt brand friendly and approachable.
Iconic & human illustrations
Chris, an independent illustrator from the US, pulled together a completely new series of brand illustrations while taking care of his newborn, kudoz to him! Illustrations help add lighter touches to our communication and explain more complex areas of our product in a playful and human manner. Always with a hand draw line, and some parts of the Brew.
The right product helps make the right choices
One of our challenges was to make the brand and the concept of Choice come to life within the product. Our promise is the simplicity to choose from the best freelancers, in the most transparent and fastest way possible. Moving away from traditional models, which are sometimes more complex to navigate, we always keep a touch of humanity behind our technology.
Our message and interface needed to be very clear so people could understand what our tools are about, and make a choice that works best for their needs.
So, in the end, what does it look like?
From start-ups to corporate clients, freelancers to developers, graphic designers to HR consultants, we had to make sure our new brand spoke to just about everyone. Whether it’s in an email, an outdoor ad, a Facebook post, or even a warm pair of socks. Take a peek!
One last note…
Back in 2013, going freelance was considered a bold move. After years of developing solutions and tools to empower those who made the choice of a new working life, Malt’s rebranding is opening up paths to new possibilities.
Our role in this changing world is clearer and invigorating. Our voice is distinct, compelling, and honest. Matching Malt community’s voice, so all types of freelancers and businesses can recognise themselves through our brand. We’ve got values and we’ll stand by them, as we grow and move into new markets, as a team and as a global company. Today, we are ready to shape the new work order. Will you join us?
Oh! And get free goodies here ❤
Thanks to Koto, our partner in crime. They were the best in understanding the ever-growing community of freelancers and evolving organizations, in a changing world of work.
Also, this rebrand may never have seen the light of day without all the freelancers who helped us deploy it. Thanks Sophie, Victor, Jérôme, Antoine, Chris, Keiran, Matthew, Orion, Stéphanie, Alexandre, Pierre, Alexandre, Emmanuelle, Manuel, Raphael, Guillaume, Cécile, Sacha, Christian, Pierre, David, Eléonore, Adriana.
