Nomad provide cyber security company F-Secure with an empathetic update for today’s digital world

Living in digital times means we’re often faced with evolving malicious scenarios that try to trick us, catch us out, or locate the vulnerabilities in our online platforms. After all, we’re only trying to live our online lives to the fullest. By contrast, the online security market can feel like an intimidating space, conjuring images of jargon-filled and tech-heavy software. For an industry that aims to make our lives safer, it doesn’t need to feel cold and inaccessible. 

This is exactly the mindset that Nomad brought when they were invited to work with F-Secure on their brand. Armed with a strategy of ‘brilliantly simple,’ the London-based studio have created a visual and verbal identity for F-Secure that combines clarity of message with a brand personality that dials into the all-encompassing experience of online life. According to Nomad, the previous F-Secure logo, as a shield, felt arbitrary and out of place in today’s digital landscape. Instead, the studio introduced a new ‘F’ symbol that comes to life in animation, representing F-Secure’s digital products through scanning and protection motion behaviours. The updated logo forms part of a modular graphic system to literally ‘protect’ imagery; using framing devices, to create bold patterns and provide space for typography and messaging.

“It actually didn’t start life as an ‘F’ and was intended to be a ‘brilliantly simple’ symbol to represent cyber security,” Creative Director Ash Watkins tells us, reflecting on the development. “The spinning quarter circle felt like it was scanning for online threats, whereas the perimeter shape felt like it was guarding and staying alert. There was a bit of a lightbulb moment when we realised that in static these shapes could also form an ‘F,’ which became the logo. It’s a logo born to move and its motion principles play a really functional role in the brand.”

For a company dedicated to making it simple to stay safe online, a straightforward typographic approach was best. As the leading typeface, Displaay’s sans serif Dazzed emphasises the new tone of voice with personality, “without making the typeface itself the ‘star of the show,’” Watkins adds. “It blended in with the new branding in the best way possible.” 

In a similar fashion to the typographic direction, the colour palette is straightforward with a continued use of F-Secure’s white and blue, a homage to their roots in Finland. “We felt it was important to retain the principles of the colour scheme,” Watkins explains,  “so we upgraded the white to a slightly warmer ecru and gave the blue a brighter, slightly more purple shade. It’s a colour scheme that oozes ‘trust’ and acts as a baseline for the more expressive elements of the brand such as the illustrations and copywriting.” 

Centred around the concept of ‘digital moments,’ the visual language emphasises empathy; from the candid photography provided by Rennie Solis, to the charming linear illustrations by Chester Holme. “We were drawn to Chester’s style in part because it feels very different from the rest of the branding. The hand-drawn, charming nature of his work provides a nice contrast with the simple geometric shapes used elsewhere and helped to put a lighthearted take on some pretty serious subjects,” Watkins concludes. 

Nomad

F-Secure