“Why Am I Looking at a Bird?” the Micro Oiseau Brand Identity
When my book, How to Be in Business was going through pre publication review, Martin, a member of my focus group said, “Why am I looking at a bird?” A good question. Now, Martin liked the bird, he just wasn’t sure what it was doing in a book about business. So, here’s the answer…
Back when I was thinking about my idea for a free multi-language marketing guide project, I wanted to find a name and a look that encapsulated a range of ideas, motivation and inspiration. The main focus for the early stage website was to create the series of marketing guides along with their partnering translations, but what identity could encapsulate this growing project? I knew wanted something that would be: approachable, collaborative and international with a sense of freedom, fun and ambition.
No problem…
I have always loved birds. Their variety, ingenuity and freedom. One day, down a ‘rabbit hole’ of general interest, I stumbled across the highly collaborative sociable weaver birds in Africa. These tiny, feathered engineers build large multi-layer communal nests, keeping them safe from predators, shaded and cool in the heat of the day and warm during the cold nights. Looking like crazy thatched apartment buildings clinging to the branches, the nests are the largest built by any bird and are so well built and well maintained that they support generations of sociable weavers.
Small, collaborative and ambitious. Check.
Keeping the collaborative little sociable weavers in mind, I needed to also project an international flavour, and my own French lessons were top of my mind. Using the word ‘micro’ felt useful, as it means small or tiny; the same in English as in French, with ‘micro enterprise’ used to describe small startup sole traders. Adding the French for bird, ‘oiseau’ seemed to fit my bird fascination and Micro Oiseau it became. Coincidentally, le micro or just ‘micro’ is a short form for microphone and used in French, Spanish, German and Vietnamese.
Approachable and international. Check.
Now, Ned Hoste, my business partner at The Big Ideas Collective, as well as being a graphic designer and publishing expert, trained in lettering at Exeter Art College. He’s also a dab hand at cartoons and illustrations. It became Ned’s job to bring to life a series of micro oiseaux to populate the emerging website, giving him an excuse to open his pencil case and the visual brand began to take shape.
Creating a quirky, non-corporate identity was important to me. Micro Oiseau is for everyone, everywhere and had to feel genderless, friendly and fun. The bird illustrations really helped with this and were receiving good feedback from supporters.
Sense of freedom and fun. Check.
The brief to Ned was to create a series of line drawings representing all different types of bird. Each one also needed to project a different personality or emotion.
To keep it simple I knew I wanted black and white line drawings that could be easily replicated across web and print and form the logo. Feedback conversations like, “It’s just not cheeky enough…” and, “I love the fat one but the tall one needs to look a little more bemused” began. With a seemingly inexhaustible supply of patience, Ned worked on.
Using his first little cruising bird cartoon, we used a circular stamp idea to create the Micro Oiseau logo. Again an idea that would work well on web and in print, on letter heads, stickers and be flexible enough to make an exclusive digital badge for our growing community of translators. The white background helped to keep the pages clean for easy reading, the deep blue and rich yellow complimenting each other to convey confidence, quality and warmth. The same qualities I also wanted to bring out in the tone of voice for the website and resources.
While Ned and I worked through iterations of the fledgling brand development, I was writing the series of marketing guides to offer sound advice. This would be the bedrock of the project and that’s where we’re going next.
Discover more about sociable weaver birds here.
Because of Martin’s question I added a paragraph to the beginning of How to Be in Business:
“The idea for this book grew from my Micro Oiseau project to share free marketing and startup support in different languages. You’ll find lots of different birds within the book and, just like us, no matter how the feathers are arranged, I believe we can all succeed and take flight.”
In the end Martin really did like the birds and the book: “A must read for anyone looking to start a business or who are in the early stages of their journey. Simple, practical and helps to remove a lot of uncertainty around the HOW of starting a business.” Martin Johnson, Founder and CEO Trans2Performance
Ned’s first bird cartoon for Micro Oiseau brand identity, the cruising chick. More birds followed, including…
