Hyperfocus puts recruitment agency's founder at the centre of its rebrand

Based in Berlin, Undiscovered is a recruitment agency specialising in creative roles. Specifically, it matches talent in design, product, engineering, and marketing with startups, agencies, and corporations across Europe.

They recently changed their name and began expanding into new regions. To uphold these lofty ambitions, they felt a rebrand was needed.

And so they turned to Hyperfocus, a young and eager boutique agency based in Hamburg that sits at the intersection between brand and product design.

Hyperfocus worked on strategic positioning, character and brand development, naming, and website design.

The brief

Initially, Undiscovered was called MR Recruitment, named after the business's founder. But after many years in the industry, carving out a successful track record, it was time to make the big leap forward and rebrand.

"At first, it was uncertain whether we should rename the company, as they were already established," recalls Paul Watmough-Halim, co-founder and digital brand director of Hyperfocus. "But as we drove further into the ideas and directions we were having, it became clear it would be a smart thing to do."

Consequently, the name became a driving factor in the brand's storytelling. "We wanted everything to spark interest and joy at all touchpoints," he says. We here at Hyperfocus believe in creating brands that are bold, brave, and also fun. So that's what we wanted to do for MR Recruitment: create something people would remember and love."

Naming process

So, how did they go about naming? "We have a process here at the studio which is kind of like a mass round of eliminations," Paul explains. "We categorise words and names into groups: names that connect and names that also are nonsensical. Pairing words and building new ones helps us find candidates. This takes a very long time and is often the hardest part of the process.

"Often, when you find a name, it's already taken," Paul continues. "There is a local, regional, and international registration and checking part, which is a killer. There were a few names in the running at the end, which we also put to a vote internally and on social media.

"Ultimately, though, the name appeared as we discussed other names near the end of the process. This can often be the case with naming: you can create a structure and process around it, but sometimes it just appears whilst being part of the overall mindset of discovery."

Fun character

They based the new visual identity around a detective character who, with relentless persistence, finds the best jobs and talent for his candidates and clients.

"Our little protagonist is a personification of the founder, synonymous with wearing a little pork pie hat," explains creative director Paul Watmough-Halim. "He's been wearing it for years. He's a big French guy and can be spotted very easily from afar. So that hat had to be in the concept. Plus, it was a carryover from the old logo, which had been a black hat."

The team also looked at old French comic books to find inspiration. "Some people have said it reminds them of Inspector Jacques Clouseau from the Pink Panther," muses Paul. "This was never in our moods or research, but we find it a huge compliment that people have found a loveable connection there. We know that in real life, Mathieu works damn hard to look after his clients and candidates. So the story was already there; we just had to make sense of it and lock it down."

In short, the Undiscovered claim became, 'We go to extraordinary lengths to find you the right job'. "So with this claim, the adventure begins, as our character does exactly that. Jumping out of planes, looking under rocks, trees, cafes, behind cactuses... his relentlessness is unprecedented."

Strategic positioning

Undiscovered has two focus areas when it comes to acquisitions: talent, and those looking to hire talent. "The storytelling of the brand facilitates this through our every-ready protagonists, out there doing the very best to find those talents," explains Paul. "The main part of solving these challenges, though, is mainly in the overall user experience at a digital level."

Careful attention was paid to UX to keep this straightforward and easy to understand as Hyperfocus split the overall experience into two chapters, one for 'Candidates' and one for 'Talents'. "Our mission was to make applying for jobs easy, maintain open lines of communication, and build strong, lasting relationships with clients and hiring managers," says Paul. "Our goal was to create a simplified, accessible, and personable hiring experience. This was routed in everything we consider when developing the overall branded experience."

Typography and illustrations

For typography, Hyperfocus used the serif from the STK Bureau font and then customised it for the wordmark. "The font was created by Smuss Studio and was the perfect choice for us," says Paul. "It's a real workhorse, as well as being rather beautiful."

Meanwhile, the sans version was used for body copy and smaller titles across other brand touchpoints, including the website. "This font establishes a very recognisable logo lockup for us," says Paul. "It adds an air of sophistication yet sits happily next to our playful and fun protagonist".

As for the illustrations, says Paul, "We knew they should be really simple and stylistic, but still, the character should have emotion and be very flexible and easy to animate. The hat and the eyes allowed us to do this; eyes can say so much!

"We have multiple expressions of the eyes in our character set," he adds. "The hat also adds a level of humour to the character and plays an important part in communicating situation and emotion. Our character also has a hand, which was an extra factor so that it could interact with the environment we placed it in."

When it came to motion, everything was done in After Effects and again kept as simple as possible. "We wanted to create loops that would become infections," says Paul. "Little stories help us keep telling our story. Motion is super-important in the brands we build, adding a layer of fun and lovability to the whole experience."