New Century Findings — DTC Retail

Contemporary rebrand in time for a DTC pivot

Background

NCF offer finished and semi-finished jewellery products through all scales across wholesale and smallscale to customers around the world. Headquartered in Hong Kong since 1998, NCF have factories in Italy and the USA.

BrandCraft was entrusted to rebrand NCF to bring a contemporary aesthetic across it’s physical and digital touchpoints. We worked with NCF through the rebranding, and creation of their e-commerce store.

Challenge

To begin the project, we worked through brand strategy workshops with the client, so we could get under the skin of the brand, and dive into it’s 20 year history.

— Existing brand lockup

Strategy

Through our brand strategic approach, we crafted a clear mission statement: “Through trusted partnerships, efficient service, and high-quality products, we enable our customers to maximize the value they bring to market.”

This was then simplified into the consumer brand mission:
“Amplify Extraordinary”

— Brand strategy overview

Inspired by the concept of “amplifying extraordinary”, a link was made to the small, humble makers marks and the handmade details within jewellery making.

We looked at iconography and typography founded in traditional jewellery hallmarks.

Expression

The custom logotype utilises sharp serifs, and curved letterforms, reflecting the brand’s mission of adding value through the smallest of details.

The logotype illustrates both the brand’s critical approach to their design manufacturing process, and their honest and human-led customer experience.

The brand system uses four lockup variations, created to maximise legibility across different proportions and scales. This enables the brand to function consistently across multiple types of print and digital touchpoints.

Following the updated branding, we created NCF’s digital experience. The website is designed to simplify the user’s individual purchasing experience, while cataloging the brand’s 1000+ SKU inventory.

Within the CMS, NCF can use discretionary discounts for customers applied at different purchasing tiers.