KOKO

GROWING A SMART BRAND

An urban garden of imagination in the heart of Tokyo is the conceptual seed for a data informed brand
focused on better play for kids from around the world.

When the largest outdoor public furniture and play equipment company in Japan was looking to create a brand to support a new immersive data informed indoor play experience, they worked with Big-Giant to sharpen the conceptual narrative and develop the brand experience through that lens. With the goal of expanding their existing business, they worked with our brand and experience team to clarify a vision that could drive the crafting of an ownable concept that would align with the larger family owned organization as well as resonate with a new international demographic while capturing the spirit of their most discerning audience—kids.

The vision was to merge the pure joy of play with data from each child’s individual play session in the playground environment to provide a scientifically based assessment of how those children engaged with the world around them. The subsequent information would then be simply presented to parents to provide the information that would help them grow their children, and ultimately improve how kids navigate the world around them.

The branding system and experience would need to strike a balance of inspiring the imagination of kids, while supporting of the brand’s differentiating technology story within an internationally understood visual language that would appeal to the varying international expat cultures of their target audience.

The resulting kid-first brand would be driven by a “Garden of Imagination” concept focused on leveraging a minimal abstract foundation that allows for imagination-lead play, yet supported by an ecosystem of elements that could be easily combined, interconnected and used to work collectively to foster the larger concept of growth and betterment of children. This simple and sophisticated system creates a world that is both familiar enough to comfort and open enough to allow for endless interpretation.

This core belief in growing kids with a “Garden of Imagination” would inform the naming of the brand itself: KOKO. A playful merging of the Japanese word for child, repeated twice to imply connection, and the current name of the larger organization.

The overarching brand aesthetic was developed to capture the sophisticated use of varying types of data that cultivate an environment for smart play and ongoing growth, while staying true to the simplicity of the child in all of us. The basic geometric forms are representative of the organizations focus on three kinds of growth: organic growth, community growth and individual growth. These interconnected ideas begin to build the overarching brand foundation when used individually, in simplistic combinations or within complex patterns to for pacing and textural interest. When the brands visual system is applied, the mix of information and interpretation foster the KOKO spirit and allow each child to bring their own stories to life.

When the largest outdoor public furniture and play equipment company in Japan was looking to create a brand to support a new immersive data informed indoor play experience, they worked with Big-Giant to sharpen the conceptual narrative and develop the brand experience through that lens. With the goal of expanding their existing business, they worked with our brand and experience team to clarify a vision that could drive the crafting of an ownable concept that would align with the larger family owned organization as well as resonate with a new international demographic while capturing the spirit of their most discerning audience—kids.

The vision was to merge the pure joy of play with data from each child’s individual play session in the playground environment to provide a scientifically based assessment of how those children engaged with the world around them. The subsequent information would then be simply presented to parents to provide the information that would help them grow their children, and ultimately improve how kids navigate the world around them.

The branding system and experience would need to strike a balance of inspiring the imagination of kids, while supporting of the brand’s differentiating technology story within an internationally understood visual language that would appeal to the varying international expat cultures of their target audience.

The resulting kid-first brand would be driven by a “Garden of Imagination” concept focused on leveraging a minimal abstract foundation that allows for imagination-lead play, yet supported by an ecosystem of elements that could be easily combined, interconnected and used to work collectively to foster the larger concept of growth and betterment of children. This simple and sophisticated system creates a world that is both familiar enough to comfort and open enough to allow for endless interpretation.

This core belief in growing kids with a “Garden of Imagination” would inform the naming of the brand itself: KOKO. A playful merging of the Japanese word for child, repeated twice to imply connection, and the current name of the larger organization.

The overarching brand aesthetic was developed to capture the sophisticated use of varying types of data that cultivate an environment for smart play and ongoing growth, while staying true to the simplicity of the child in all of us. The basic geometric forms are representative of the organizations focus on three kinds of growth: organic growth, community growth and individual growth. These interconnected ideas begin to build the overarching brand foundation when used individually, in simplistic combinations or within complex patterns to for pacing and textural interest. When the brands visual system is applied, the mix of information and interpretation foster the KOKO spirit and allow each child to bring their own stories to life.

A BRAND AT PLAY

DESIGN ELEMENTS THAT ACT AS AN INVITATION TO EXPLORE AND THINK DIFFERENTLY—LIKE A CHILD.

The core brand elements provide an infinite set of building blocks that can be used to embody the KOKO experience of smart play, while also building equity in a simplified aesthetic that is both recognizable and indicative of the goals of connecting children and communities of all shapes and sizes. The complexity of the elements acts as a catalyst for exploration while the familiarity of the forms allows us to understand how children can repurpose and combine the known world to form an original idea.
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