Boundless Video for Bold Brands

The last couple of years have been a brilliant time for us at Manto. For all of the huge challenges presented by the pandemic, it did seem to switch a lot of people on to the power and importance of online video content, and so the demand for our work has been growing steadily. We’ve won some exciting new clients and done some of the best work we’ve ever done. It’s been an exciting ride.

Coming into he start of this year we felt that our visual identity needed a bit of an update so that it did a better job of reflecting our personality as a company, and giving people a good way in to who we are and what we do. Up to now we’ve tended to keep our branding a little more in the background, allowing our work to take centre stage. While our work will always be what we most want to be recognised for, one of the keys to the way we work is building strong, collaborative relationships with our clients. We work hard to make the experience of working with us an enjoyable one and we wanted our branding to convey a bit more of that!

We’ve worked with some fantastic designers over the years but for this project we really wanted a fresh set of eyes and ideas. After asking around for recommendations we decided to work with the super talented duo Pat and Nat who make up Foundry (not least because it’s really fun to say ‘Pat and Nat’). We loved the work that they’ve done in the past and felt that they really quickly grasped who we are and what we’re about. We have absolutely loved working with Pat and Nat (see, so much fun!). As well as being mega talented and creative, they really took time to dig down into what we were wanting to achieve, and provided us with great insight all through the process.

I asked them to talk a little bit about how they approached the project:

How would you summarise the brief you were given for this project?

We were tasked to evolve the Manto brand, with a goal to make the brand effortlessly ‘work harder’, express more of Manto’s personality from a brand perspective, and importantly; to create a more engaging brand which really connects with audiences.

Can you briefly describe how you approached developing the concepts you presented

We first absorbed Manto’s existing brand, their case studies, client testimonials and more. We asked key questions to define more concisely Manto’s brand purpose, position and personality. This informed our creative direction, which through collaboration with the Manto team, set out how the brand should evolve visually and emotionally to achieve the goals of the brief.

From here, we developed the brand identity and overarching message – ‘Boundless video for bold brands’ – which champions Manto’s creativity, confidence and purpose. The visual identity really embraces these qualities, whilst adding an element of playfulness to ensure the brand experience is full of energy, feels human, and encourages engagement.

Can you briefly explain how you think the new brand identity you developed represents Manto’s work and culture

Throughout the project we quickly learnt how Manto have huge passion for their work, an ability to embrace a new challenge and push boundaries. These qualities resonated with us, and are weaved throughout not only Manto’s work and culture, but also the fabric of the evolved brand.

And so here it is, the new Manto branding. We feel it captures all of the things that we hope our clients will recognise in us and how we work: creativity, playfulness, partnership, energy, ambition. We’re really grateful to Pat and Nat (never gets old) for their amazing work and are really looking forward to working with them over the years to come.