Chris Clayton tells us how a bold, scrappy rebrand helps the original indie e-commerce platform sell itself.
(Image credit: Big Cartel / How&How)
Big Cartel started with a big idea. Launched in 2005, it provided a platform for small artists and crafters to sell their goods via customised online shops with built-in access to sales tools.
Since then, the likes of Etsy and Shopify have become more widely known names among the general public, while Big Cartel's USP got a bit lost in the noise. That's now being fixed with a bold and scrappy rebrand that manages to communicate both the platform's breadth and its simplicity.
Like many of the best rebrands, the transformation was inspired by a clear need for a new identity. Big Cartel has got bigger, no longer focusing specifically on indie crafters. It aims to make it easy for any creative entrepreneur to launch a branded, customised platform to sell their work rather than a generic marketplace where products appear alongside many others.
It needed to communicate that breadth while also convincing people of the platform's simplicity. So it brought in the branding agency How&How to re-centre the brand and help Big Cartel do what it helps its own customers do: sell itself.
How&How describes the new brand identity as "a real scrapper" with a free-spirited tone inspired by the ideas entrepreneurs scribble into notebooks. There's a punchy tone of voice to motivate members to market their wares, a bold, confident headline style and risograph-inspired textures that offer a nod to the brand's indie roots, perhaps with a touch of anti-design in there.
"In all truth we wanted to create something that felt the polar opposite of the glossy world of Shopify," Creative Director Chris Clayton says. "Something that spoke to the indie roots of Big Cartel, broke a few rules and brought a hand crafted analogue feel to a sometimes soulless digital world."
The rebrand's use of risograph-inspired textures brings a "hand crafted analogue feel to a sometimes soulless digital world" (Image credit: Big Cartel / How&How)
Chris says a big part of the brief was to transform people's perceptions of Big Cartel, which has been seen as a niche, indie brand for artists and makers. The aim was to break down barriers and encourage aspiring entrepreneurs to take the leap in whatever business dream they have.
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"This is when the brand idea of Goodbye, Caution was born," Chris says. "The brand was created to be stripped back and simple. Getting out of the way so people get on with starting their new online ventures. No techie jargon here. The tone of voice is emotive, real, opinionated and full of attitude. Something you can’t say for many online marketplaces of today."
Before and after: Big Cartel feels bigger than ever with its bold new logo design (bottom) (Image credit: Big Cartel / How&How)
Chris says a logo redesign was originally ‘off the cards’ but that it became clear that the mark needed to "exude the same attitude and rebellious nature of the new brand". The team had already settled on Extraset's ES Replan as the headline font, and it needed the logo design to be equally bold and characterful. That's when it discovered that Extraset itself uses Big Cartel.
"It felt like the perfect fit for them to create a custom wordmark for us," he explains. "The outcome was a bespoke wordmark that really packs a punch. Heavy, characterful but optimised for use in the digital world. This paired with our hand-drawn icon creates a logo that feels scrappy, bold and fiercely independent."
More than just a new look, the result is a new lease of life for the brand, allowing it to stand out in a crowded market that's evolved significantly since it first launched.
Joe is a regular freelance journalist and editor at Creative Bloq. He writes news, features and buying guides and keeps track of the best equipment and software for creatives, from video editing programs to monitors and accessories. A veteran news writer and photographer, he now works as a project manager at the London and Buenos Aires-based design, production and branding agency Hermana Creatives. There he manages a team of designers, photographers and video editors who specialise in producing visual content and design assets for the hospitality sector. He also dances Argentine tango.
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