Noticed something different? In collaboration with awarded design studio Josephmark, we’ve officially launched our new Pyn brand! We’re on a mission to transform workplaces and workforces for the better, and we felt a new lick of paint was in order.

To celebrate the launch, I’m excited to take you behind the scenes with our Co-Founders Jon Williams and Joris Luijke, as well as Josephmark’s Executive Creative Director Alex Naghavi. The entire team at Pyn played a part in refining our new identity, and we’re thrilled to share it with you. 

We’ll explore the components of our new look and feel and what this direction symbolizes for the future success and growth of Pyn.

Logomark

There are a lot of strong HR brands out there, and we’re glad to be in good company. We felt it was time to develop a unique and recognizable brand that felt true to the mission, vision, and values of Pyn. We wanted to infuse humanity and heart throughout the entire employee journey, and to establish a brand that felt like it captured the progression and movement of a growing career. 

Our logomark is the first thing you’ll notice about our new brand. It captures our dynamic and spirited personality. As Joris says, “It’s bold and distinctive, but not overwhelming. It conveys the calmness that we want people to experience with Pyn as a product, while still feeling active.”

Jon adds, “I think the best way to describe the direction was that we wanted to bring the creativity and edginess of an art magazine with the sophistication and credibility of something like the New Yorker.” 

Reflecting on working on our new identity, Alex explains, “Pyn wasn't afraid of going against the grain, doing things a little differently, so as a creative this made the process extra enjoyable. There’s an editorial style influence across the identity which can be credited to Pyn’s roots in communications content. The Pyn logotype was formed with letterforms found in mastheads, as we felt the editorial aesthetic spoke to the core of the product.”

Shapes

Our shape system is one of my favorite components of our new brand. We needed something that was robust and distinct, while having flexibility and versatility as we grow. The narrative that gives life to our shape system was created with care, and gives each more meaning. 

“We start with a single point. We grow, transform and evolve. And start to build a journey. Our own path. Through Pyn, we have support and structure, and a platform for what’s next. We can mark moments, milestones and create destinations. We can move the pin in our careers and careers of others. There’s opportunity to flourish and grow. With Pyn, we have the single source of truth guiding us, leaving room to build relationships and connect with other humans.”

Alex elaborates, “The color palette presented through shifting gradients brought a soothing brand experience, one reflecting an oasis of calm in the noisy world of HR. These modular forms were developed out of a narrative capturing the changes and shifts in an employee experience.” 

Art direction

Our new photography style is distinct among HR brands in the market. Alex explains, “We wanted these images to feel raw, human and individual, presented through an extremely editorial direction. We went for a high-flash photography style, which is quite unexpected for a HR brand. These editorial and stylised images aimed to capture people in these candid moments in their home office or the workplace, giving an elevated glimpse behind the curtain of how people work.” 

Voice principles and language considerations

As a longtime content marketer, I’d be remiss if I didn’t share what I love about our new brand narrative. Visual components of a brand often make the first impression, but it’s the words that can build a lasting relationship. When both work in harmony? That’s the magic. Our voice is: 

• Purposeful: We speak with intention and authority so we can cut through the noise. While we can be playful at times, it should always be clear that we put thought into how and when we communicate. 
• Plainspoken: We keep it simple in the way we speak, opting for the most direct way to convey an idea. We remove words that add noise, with the idea that plain speak brings about a calmer response. 
• Progressive: We are bold and unafraid to challenge the status quo. While we acknowledge that everyone moves at their own pace, we are always striving forward
• People-centric: We are human above all else, and we communicate as such. That means conversational over clinical, and cheeky when and where appropriate. 
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You may notice that “playful,” “bold,” and “cheeky” all appear in our voice principles. It was particularly important to me that we not only made room for humor and fun, but that we built it into the brand. 

While our visual components may have taken cues from sophisticated publishing houses, our tone of voice often comes through with a pun. 

You’ll see this scattered across our new site, like here on our 404 page. 

Internally, our name for team members is, “Pynfolk.” We want everyone to reach their professional “Pynnacle.” You get it, right? It’s something that started off feeling a bit silly for us (and if we overdid it, it would be) but it feels true to who we are. 

This tendency towards the silly comes from our first language considerations, “Honor the quirk.” It’s the understanding that our quirks and eccentricities are what make us unique and interesting. 

Our other core language consideration is, “Always consider a diverse audience.” I recently collaborated with Stacey Nordwall, our Head of Employee Experience, on a Guide to Inclusive and Equitable Workplace Communication. I’ve learned so much from Stacey and our co-author Dr. Harper, on how to put this into practice. You can access the Guide here. 

Taking Pyn into the future 

When I first shared our new brand internally, I was met with silence. 

Let me explain. 

To be courteous, everyone on Zoom was muted. In the familiar constraints of remote work I was switching between watching my monitor to ensure I was talking about the right component at the right time, and watching my laptop screen to see if my colleagues were emoji-reacting or if I could read their expression through zoom. 

Afterwards, I shared the new brand deck and waited for the :awesome: :clap: and :hearteyes: reactions to come through (they did, but no party parrots this time). 

For a remote company, the way we stay connected is through tools like Zoom, Slack, and the occasional in-person get together when we can. A strong brand identity not only helps us build a shared connection, but it signals to prospective team members what we’re all about (ps. We’re hiring). 

Alex sums up what we aimed to capture with our new brand, “It’s the feeling of an optimistic future, where HR is given the space to focus on building relationships while tech handles the tedious tasks.”

Pyn helps companies thrive through timely and personalized communications. We help you send the right message, to the right employees, at the right moment. Our automations are powered by your HRIS data - so you can end the endless data entry. We’ve mapped moments across the employee journey, and built an extensive library of messages you can use as-is, or customize for your workplace.

If this sounds like something that you and your company would benefit from, request a demo.  One of our founding growth team members would be delighted to speak with you (they can’t wait to o-pyn your email).