Digital Made Human: The Story Behind Our Rebrand
Twelve years of steady growth had started to outweigh our own story. Our work, and the digital space around it, had evolved rapidly. Our brand just hadn’t kept up.
The end solution was novel – and not without its doubters. Hire a brand agency, to help rebrand the brand agency.
James picks up the story. ‘There’s a specific blindness that comes with being a creative agency. We’re experts at uncovering our clients’ stories, but we found ourselves too close to our own to tell it objectively.
We expected more resistance than we actually got from the agencies we briefed. A couple were a bit surprised by our approach, but most understood the challenge and were keen to pitch.
‘It helped to have a good network of connections in the industry – and I think the brief probably sounded a bit different from the usual, too.’
We commissioned the team at Gardiner Richardson to break down the boundaries and help us find our voice in a crowded market. Through on-site workshops with our team, they helped shape the new brand around a simple tagline: Digital Made Human.
Design team lead Paul Gardner sums it up.
“This isn’t just a tagline. It’s a sentiment that describes how Creatomatic has always operated, and is in direct opposition to where much of the digital industry is heading. We’re not anti-AI – but we’re clear that craft, curiosity and relationships can’t be replicated by a prompt. We’re real humans, developing real relationships, and creating digital that audiences don’t just see, they feel.”
Our new visual identity was designed in-house around this brand language. Our primary palette leads with authority, while our typographic system allows us to communicate clearly and with confidence — reflecting the balance between professionalism and approachable personality that defines how we work.
Hand-drawn details add texture across touchpoints, ensuring the identity feels alive rather than simply applied. A suite of illustrated stickers carry personality, humour and warmth into the everyday, capturing the spirit of a team that communicates directly and thinks creatively. Reflecting the informal, direct and often humorous way the team actually communicates, it’s a visual rejection of the jargon-heavy language that often plagues the digital space.
At the heart of it all is Tom, a pixel with personality and Digital Made Human made… human! Curious, expressive and playful, Tom is the embodiment of a team that takes work seriously, but never takes itself too seriously.
From James:
“We haven’t reinvented ourselves. We’ve become more intentional about who we already are, and confident enough to finally say it out loud.”
In a digital landscape that can feel increasingly automated and distant, our new brand is a step forward that signals something different: real people at a real agency, ready to make our clients feel understood.
