Nowvac
Spend less time in a vacuum

Nowvac is a marketplace created to bring the best minds in the vacuum industry together — giving them a place to share information, technology, and ideas. We delivered a brand that's capable of embodying this sense of community, combining two strikingly different elements — human warmth and complex science — into a new formula for success.

Client: Nowvac
Agency: Underdog
Year: 2019
Country: USA
Sector: Technology

Branding
Visual Identity
Brand Applications
Iconography
Illustration

The Challenge

Ironically, the marketplace for vacuums exists, well, in a vacuum. The outdated methods of communication, peer information, lead generation, and simply sharing ideas is somehow still done in the network of yesteryear. It has all the elements of a functional, collaborative marketplace, but in a way, these elements resemble the final particles inhabiting a spherical vacuum chamber, as they rarely result in meaningful interaction. Our challenge wasn’t only to create a more efficient, unbiased, and well-informed marketplace for vacuums, but also to create a community for people where their scientific pursuits can finally leave the vacuum they’ve been operating in.

What we did

We were inspired by the symbolic representation of vacuum pumps within technological diagrams in various industries. This shape, combined with the silhouette of a person, forms a unique symbol that represents both science and people with a few simple lines. For the brand's messaging, we introduced a set of text glyphs usually used to represent formulas to combine a humorous and daring tone of voice with a techie look.

The color palette, dominated by shades of blue, is precise and functional, becoming more open and playful with the introduction of a set of accent colors. Textures, portraits, and contextual images set the tone for the brand’s imagery, serving as a whole system when combined with the geometric yet approachable illustration style.