Case Study: Defining Voilà
About The Client
Originally from France and now based in Los Angeles, Victoire Duprez was looking to launch her own recruitment agency at the end of 2020, and she knew she needed new branding and a fresh website.
Victoire adds a personal touch to her job, and knew she wanted a branding agency that would give her the same personal touch. She contacted 3–4 agencies and a few freelancers to start finding her own perfect match.
After interviewing several agencies, including Amplified, it was down to Amplified and one other agency. Victoire felt that the other agency was just selling to her instead of listening to her needs. With us, she felt we wanted her to get a good service, and that they were a good fit. She chose Amplified.
Getting Started
Victoire knew she needed someone to guide and create her image online, not just someone to create a website with her information, and our team was ready to delve headfirst into that process. Our work with her began by getting to know her and her recruitment agency’s mission through a series of phone calls. We also sent out a form to her friends, clients, and her past colleagues and employers to get a sense of who she is.
We learned that she brings the right people to the right teams and the right roles. She sits down with companies and learns about their employees and company culture, to make sure the matches she’s making are the perfect fit. We also learned many other details that could inform our process, including:
- Marketing campaigns and logos she liked
- How she would describe her business
- What she envisioned for her future
- Her values
- Her favorite music
- Colors she liked
- Her life story
- The target market
Our Process
We held weekly or biweekly calls with Victoire, anything from 15 minutes to several hours, to discuss every aspect and step of the brand and website. Our schedule with her was flexible and we scheduled calls when we felt we needed them while keeping her constantly updated on our progress. “They were really listening, and they brought creative ideas and solutions to each step,” Victoire says about the whole process.
The Name
In choosing a name for her agency, we brainstormed over 40 names and eventually narrowed it down to 3–4. Eventually, Victoire picked Voilà.
In picking Voilà, we drew from Victoire’s background: we chose a French word that not only reflects her roots but is easily recognizable and understandable in an American setting. In speaking to her friends and coworkers, we learned that her French background was a very distinct aspect of her personality and how she expresses herself, and we wanted that to come across in the name.
Content
We brainstormed and created a vision, a mission statement, and a tone of voice for Voilà based on what we’d discovered about Victoire and her agency. We decided to rebrand her as a “talent matcher” instead of a recruiter to better portray her work and its elevated yet personal nature, as well as create a distinct space she could own in the market. We also made the content’s voice very youthful, energetic, friendly, informal, and unique to reflect Victoire’s style.
Logo
While part of the team worked on the content, the design team worked on logo and color options based on the name we had chosen with Victoire.
For the colors, we brainstormed from a list of 10 colors that appealed to Victoire and chose red, blue and white, which matched the French flag. Red and blue also reflected the direct but relatable feeling of the brand, where the calm blue is accented by the bold Victory red in the dot and the accent mark.
Typography
For the font, we searched for a font that wasn’t too corporate or traditional, to again show that Voilà had a new and simple way of doing things. We landed on Nunito Sans, a sans serif font that felt very modern.
Website
Once the brand manual and logo were ready, we moved onto the creation of the website, which involved several steps:
Content
We discussed what content we had already and talked about how many pages the site should be, what should go on each page, and how it would be structured.
Framework and wireframe
We decided on a simple one-pager that would include all the basic information for recruiters and recruits. We also created different CTAs for each user to send Victoire a message and start working with her, as well as a link to her job portal.
Interface and design
We developed the look of the site as well as how users would interact with each element. The design was simple and sleek, with clean lines and bold CTA buttons that popped on the white background, an easy-to-understand menu, and simple fonts.
Animation
We wanted to include simple but playful animations on the site to give it some character. We developed one animation for the logo where the dot of the i jumps into the accent mark of the a and travels through it, representing the client’s journey through Voilà’s process. We also included some puzzle piece animations on the site to reflect the “find your fit” tagline.
Other Assets
Once the site was live, we created some branded digital and print assets for Victoire to use that would remain consistent with her brand, including:
- Social media banners
- Business cards
- Letterhead
“The process was really smooth and everything felt very easy,” Victoire says of working with us. “We took our time but it felt very necessary.”
