In August 2023, Kooba began working on a branding and design project with Vially, previously IA Labs, an innovative company specialising in digital accessibility. As an agency who triumph accessible design, this project was particularly exciting for Kooba, and we found a lot of common ground with the Vially team.
Last week, Kooba Design Director Elena Rimeikaite took the opportunity to discuss the project with Andrew Power, Vially’s Revenue Leader, covering everything that went into building such a compelling visual brand.
Elena:
"Can you tell us a little bit about Vially, previously known as IA Labs?"
Andrew:
"Vially’s mission is to make the world more inclusive, and we believe that technology is one of the most impactful ways to achieve that.
We’ve built a platform to help automate digital accessibility from design and development, right through to the BAU and maintenance phase.
Our name comes from Via - the latin meaning path or journey, and a11y - the dev shorthand for accessibility."
Elena:
"It’s a clever name, and we tried to incorporate that sense of a journey into the logo. Why did you choose to work with Kooba when creating your new brand?"
Andrew:
"We were impressed by Kooba’s previous work with global businesses, twenty years of experience, and their ability to deliver sleek, modern designs which would properly fit our desired new brand image.
Attention to detail was crucial for us, as well as strong support as we needed guidance throughout the process.
We also knew they understood and were committed to building digital accessibility into their design process."
Elena:
"I definitely think the accessibility angle was crucial for us. What were your goals when you began working with Kooba? And what key messages did you want the IA Labs rebrand to communicate?"
Andrew:
"We wanted to build a brand that was open and welcoming. To show that we were here to support and guide people in learning and improving digital accessibility. To demonstrate our professionalism and expertise as a business. It was important that the new brand had a global reach and feel. A sense that we could be partners to anyone globally who wanted to begin, or continue their “journey to accessibility”"
Elena:
"Did you have any concerns when starting out with this rebrand, and how did those compare to the actual experience of working with Kooba?"
Andrew:
"Our main concern was not really knowing how to describe or deliver all the things we wanted. Or how to articulate some of this to Kooba. Honestly, I’m impressed you put up with us as well as you did with our constant revisions, and very unclear asks!
The Kooba team always met us with patience, advice and support helping us take our “notions” and form them into tangible designs, and ideas. The team’s great skill lay in digesting our word salads and converting it into exceptional visual and design options. They really delivered an iterative process and weren’t afraid to tell us why some of our ideas might not work. This is always helpful."
Elena:
"It’s interesting that you say that, I think one thing we really pride ourselves on is listening to and understanding the real needs of our clients. It’s a real skill that designers need to have. Describing exactly what you might want is very very hard, and it's part of our job to help articulate and illustrate possible solutions to help you in that process.
In general, how did you find working with Kooba on the branding project?"
Andrew:
"Fantastic. The skillset of the various team members were exactly as needed at each point of the project. Responses were quick, work was delivered on time, communication was clear and efficient using platforms like Basecamp. Kooba were supportive and professional throughout."
Elena:
"That’s great to hear! We certainly felt it was a pretty smooth operation. How did you find the experience of rebranding overall? Were there any unexpected aspects, and what surprised you the most?"
Andrew:
"It’s much harder than it looks. Or perhaps I’m being naive! Creativity “on demand” is a deeply challenging thing. Working with people like Duncan really showed how much work goes into developing design options, concepts, ideas and flows to whittle down many ideas into one that contains the distilled essence of the brand you want to embody."
Elena:
"Yes of course it’s hard! It's a real skill of a brand designer like Duncan to produce such a massive volume and variety of creative work. When we have a client such as Vially who are willing to contribute and engage at every stage it's so important to provide you with as many options as possible.
Moving on to the outcome of this whole process, how was the brand received? And were there any concerns about public perception?"
Andrew:
"The brand has been very well received. Kooba have been put forward for several awards based on the Vially rebrand, and it’s wonderful to bask in that reflected glory!
All of our customers have given us excellent feedback, and crucially, it’s made us more digitally accessible."
Elena:
"Yes we’re delighted to see the brand nominated for the IDI awards. On the topic of inclusion, how important was it to create an accessible brand, and what were the key inclusivity considerations from your perspective?
Andrew:
"It’s vital. Not just for us as a digital accessibility business, but for everyone. 96% of the top 1 million websites globally are not digitally accessible. This limits the lives of the 1.3 billion people globally who have some form of disability.
We want to be part of the solution, as well as helping others on their journey. Vially’s new brand colours, logos, website, and our saas solution all need to be fully accessible for everyone to use. Kooba got that, and never wavered in supporting it, and approaching the re-brand with this central tenant in mind."
Elena:
"I must say it was a real pleasure to work on a project with accessibility at its core, for a team like ours it's always been something that we want to prioritise. With an eye to the future, what kind of plans does Vially have?"
Andrew:
"We continue to drive to spread the message of digital accessibility.
The message is: This matters. It’s not just about compliance with new laws, it's about understanding people's individual experiences and responding to that.
We want Vially to be synonymous with digital accessibility. To be the gold standard chosen by businesses and governments to deliver accessibility and to be supported by the community we came from as a company that is ethically driven by positive change for them."
Elena:
"Thank you Andrew, it's been a pleasure to speak with you as always, and we look forward to seeing the Vially brand develop and grow further."
The Vially brand has been shortlisted for the IDI Brand Refresh 2024 and for Best Brand at the Digital Media Awards 2024.
If you’re looking for a new brand or a brand refresh, get in touch to see how Kooba can help elevate your business.
If you want to find out more, you can read all about Kooba’s work with Vially in our full case study, and can connect with Elena and Andrew on Linkedin.
