Gaudiy Inc. aims to create a “Fan Nation” where people can live with their passions and obsessions, and continues to challenge the fusion of Web3 and entertainment culture. They rebranded in October 2023, which garnered significant attention. This article dives into the behind-the-scenes of the project, from the logo renewal by Takaya Ohta of Kern Inc. to the construction of the visual system.

Takaya Ohta | Kern Inc.

After graduating from Rikkyo University’s College of Business, Takaya worked as an art director at design firms and startup companies before establishing Kern Inc. in 2017. He focuses on designing identity by transforming a company’s philosophy into design.

Sho Tanaka | Gaudiy Communication Designer

Sho graduated from Kanazawa College of Art and Crafts with a major in Visual Design. After working at an advertising production company and a CtoC venture, he joined Gaudiy in July 2023. In this project, he is responsible for directing internal visual development.

Translating timeless concepts into designs that any previous clients would reject

── First of all, please tell us about Gaudiy.

Sho: Gaudiy is a Web3 startup that aims to “advance with fans through the times.” By utilizing technologies such as blockchain and generative AI, we strive to create a “Fan Nation” where people’s lives are sustained by their “likes” and “obsessions.” As a platform for this vision, we provide “Gaudiy Fanlink.”

Sho: Five years after our founding and with an organization of 100 members, we rebranded including the logo, to demonstrate our commitment to continuing the pursuit of our mission without compromising our principles.

── Regarding the logo renewal, it seems that Gaudiy requested the project from you, Takaya. What kind of order did you receive?

Takaya: There was only one constraint, bring ideas that “would be rejected by any previous client.” To meet their expectations, I needed to gauge how extreme the expression should be for them. Whether it should be something that represents their level of determination or something that would truly be rejected, I honestly struggled to measure their seriousness.

However, the level of determination to be rejected varies from person to person, and I couldn’t be sure if my level of determination matched theirs. So I initially thought of bringing something extremely extreme that everyone would definitely reject. And if they got angry, I would say, “But you asked for it,”.

── How did you interpret and approach the idea of something that would be “rejected”?

Takaya: During the creation process, I first developed the overall concept and then translated it into a tangible form. The greater the gap between the concept and the tangible form, the more surprised the other party would be. However, if the concept becomes too complex, confusion may arise from the beginning. I decided to focus on making the concept itself easily understandable and emphasized how much we could surprise everyone when translating it into a tangible form.

── The concept for this project is “Encode and Decode,” right? How did you come up with this concept?

Takaya: I often work with individuals who strive to be at the top in their respective fields. When considering what would be suitable for them, it needs to be not just a fleeting trend but a universal keyword that can encompass their field. As part of my basic approach, I prefer to tackle broader themes whenever possible.

Takaya: The concept we adopted this time, “Encode and Decode,” is a fundamental concept that has been present since the era of Web 1.0, starting with image compression formats like JPEG and PNG that were born during the time of slow internet connections. It is still relevant today, being used for encryption in hash functions, among other applications. By incorporating concepts that have been widely used in the context of the internet, I believe that it would create a robust concept capable of withstanding long-term operations.

Representing Gaudiy with the logo itself

── What processes have you gone through to create this logo from Encode and Decode?

Takaya: I came up with three ideas, differentiating its extreme-ness to meet Gaudiy’s request for designs that would be rejected by other clients.

Takaya: What I felt during the creation process was that instead of expressing Gaudiy’s “challenging spirit” solely through symbols and logotypes, it would be better to express it as an overall style and showcase a challenging attitude through the presence of the logo itself. 

As a precaution, I included options that leaned towards symbols. As a professional, I had to consider whether “they say they want it, but is it really good?” and I must not do anything that would damage their reputation when these designs are released. Therefore, I was in a dilemma of incorporating what Gaudiy wanted while ensuring that it functions as a medium to convey the message.

── What did you consider to ensure functionality?

Takaya: Aside from considering whether the concept is easily accepted, I also paid attention to the choice of motifs. The motif we adopted this time, “glitched characters,” is something that people who have some exposure to digital technology would understand, and I thought that even if they initially feel a sense of discomfort, it would become familiar after seeing it a few times.

── The motif of glitched characters seems to be functioning effectively.

Takaya: It was quite a challenge to determine how much distortion would render the text unreadable and where the fine line between readability and glitched characters lies. Since it was difficult to grasp the sense of using existing fonts, I created a font from scratch and experimented with how to distort it in a way that maintains both legibility and the feeling of glitched characters.

── How did you feel when the “glitched characters” concept was ultimately chosen?

Takaya: I thought it would be the least likely concept to be chosen, and originally, I proposed to use both the “non-buggy version” and the “buggy version (glitched characters)” as a dual approach. I prepared the non-buggy version as a backup, and the intention was to use the version of the glitched characters when they wanted to express a stronger corporate stance. But then they said, “Let’s go with just the glitched characters version!” It was at that moment that I realized, “The client’s words were serious.”

Usually, I tend to think, “Will this be well-received?” during the design process and impose constraints on myself. This project surprised me because it allowed me to break free from those constraints and create something like this. Through the interactions during the project, I truly felt that Gaudiy has a forward-thinking attitude towards challenging any difficulties.

Aiming for a visual system that has longevity

── Please also tell us about the expansion of the visual system. How did you design the development of the logo, Takaya?

Takaya: While keeping the concept of “encoding and decoding,” I explored if there were any graphics that could represent them. I created various designs, using elements similar to the logo as well as different ones. Then, I entrusted Sho with determining what kind of designs would allow Gaudiy to have a consistent development as a company.

Sho: I joined the company in July 2023, and my initial important mission was to actually use and understand the designs created by Takaya, and explore how to implement them in various ways based on their characteristics.

The visual system proposal we received was based on a dot-based visual representation combining 1:1 squares. There was also a color palette, so I created various prototypes using them, such as thumbnails for note articles.

Sho: When we tried it out, there were many instances where it became too flashy. So we went through a series of verifications to figure out how to express Gaudiy’s intelligence, coolness, academic nature, and the stance of “continuing to be a bug to society.” The goal at that time was to “become proficient in using this visual system,” I believe.

By the way, during this process, we incorporated pair design, where three in-house designers worked together for a certain period. This allowed us to grasp the tactile sensation together without producing outputs that had different interpretations of the visuals. I think it was a good decision to adopt this work method.

── Did the verification process go smoothly with the three of you working together?

Sho: Actually, it wasn’t that simple. We had other design tasks in between, so there was a gap of about 2-3 weeks. When we took a step back and looked at what we had accomplished, we couldn’t ignore the sense of inconsistency…Alongside the logo, which is the centerpiece of the new visual identity, and the corporate website created by PARK, The outputs that we had thought were achieving the desired coolness through the verification process were suddenly “too pop.” This happened when we only had one month left until the release; we decided to start over completely from here.

Sho: One of the reasons for this decision was the concern that with a composition based solely on dots and color combinations, the expressive range would become limited and we would start to feel constrained over time. Consistently delivering our message is also a top priority for the company, and we believe that it would be better to manage within the existing dot-based visual system. We went through extensive verification to ensure that we wouldn’t end up strangling ourselves in the future and decided to steer towards expanding the range of expression.

From here, we enter a chaotic phase of breaking and diverging from this visual system. We revisited the pair design approach we used in the early stages and explored the possibilities of incorporating textures that evoke Gaudiy’s scientific and intellectual essence, in addition to the square grid. We gathered and compiled the ones we thought were good and got feedback from Takaya.

── What kind of feedback did you give, Takaya?

Takaya: Originally, my focus was on “reproducibility.” Based on my experience, in-house designers at startups tend to excel in developing componentized elements such as UI rather than graphics. So, I thought that providing graphical elements would be a burden for operations and it would be difficult to continue using them. That’s why in the initial proposal, I emphasized the point that we could provide consistent designs by simply cutting and fitting them into photos along the grid in any shape.

But when I saw the verification results, he had expanded the graphics beyond my imagination. I think I just kept saying “amazing” and “cool”.

If there is one thing, when the graphics become more complex through experimentation without constraints, there is a possibility that the coherence as a whole project, including the logo and web, may weaken as the connections as lines become weaker. Therefore, I commented that it might be better to have something that plays a role in connecting everything within the system.

── In the remaining month, how did you ultimately finish it?

Sho: It was originally a challenging design, and it was difficult to converge one of the divergent elements into a single form, so honestly, I didn’t know what to do.

But at that time, our representative Ishikawa gave me feedback saying, “Consistency is important, but Gaudiy’s essence lies in constantly challenging and changing without being fixated on one way. Even failures within that are part of the ‘bug,’ so I want you to continue challenging the expression as well.” So, we switched gears and aimed to present it in a state of divergence as an expression of the “Gaudiy essence” we can achieve at this stage, rather than aiming for a neatly packaged result. Taking Takaya-san’s advice into consideration, we balanced the elements that were going too far and brought them into the final output.

Embracing “Identity” as a time to question and embody the desired state

── How did you feel about creating a corporate identity through this project?

Takaya: My output is the logo and visual system, but they are just one final product. What’s important is the time spent questioning what kind of company it is and what lies at its core during the creation process. It’s time to ask the clients, “Is this what you want to be?” It’s an ongoing process of questioning whether what I’m doing aligns with the company’s existence. This is a crucial element of creating an identity.

Sho: By entrusting professionals like Takaya with the task of creating our identity, I felt that we were able to translate what the company is thinking and the direction we want to take. It was because they set the centerpiece from a half-step ahead that we were able to aim for creative jumps that look into the future.

It was a challenging two months for me, but the desire not to narrow down what we would use in the future was stronger. Through this project, I feel like I was able to understand what “Gaudiy’s way” is, which I didn’t fully grasp when I first joined.

── Finally, please tell us about Gaudiy’s prospects.

Sho: Alongside the release of the rebranding, we also announced the joint development of an SNS service with Sanrio and the establishment of a new company called “Gaudiy Financial Labs” for financial research and development. As a company, we have been building blockchain mechanisms within Gaudiy as a private chain, but now we are transitioning to a public chain and entering a phase of connecting with the world. While moving towards even greater challenges, I believe that through the logo and visuals, we were able to express Gaudiy’s attitude of continuously tackling difficult problems. We want to accelerate our efforts toward achieving our goal of becoming a “fan nation.”

Sponsored By
Gaudiy Inc.