Very

How Very … we helped online fashion and furniture brand Very to buck perceptions with a strong, atypical typographic look.

Very sans Headline and Text, exudes positivity, excitement and above all, ownability, key details that we tasked F37 in delivering. Bringing these details to life has given the Very design team a tool that has transformed their everyday communications which is now more than just a logo, it is a key component across the entire brand language. The knowledge and craft from F37 has made them a key partner in delivering an exciting, digitally focussed brand refresh for Very.

Shaun Turnbull — Creative Director, Someone

Background

Very is one of the UK’s most popular online shopping retailers, selling a mainstream mix of clothing, home accessories, toys and gaming. Based in Liverpool, it was formerly known as Littlewoods Direct.

Very was seen as being a predominantly female brand, while in actuality, it caters for everyone. The board brought in heavyweight branding agency Someone to address this bias and broaden its appeal. Someone commissioned F37 Foundry to create a new logo and bespoke typeface to give Very a more gender-neutral feel and help the brand stand out in a crowded, competitive marketplace.

Advertising

Wayfinding

Delivery

Very Sans is a characterful sans serif font, complete with quirky flicks and dynamic shapes, that feels friendly and approachable. All this while keeping the new Very pink square in its DNA.

The headline weight has the quirkiest letterforms and uses the Very square as the writing tool. Using the square like this evolved the font into a super low contrast, almost monolinear style, a robust look that’s pretty unusual in this market. We also introduced a sense of movement into the symmetrical letters to subtly inject energy and character, perfect for a brand that caters to all ages.

We then extended these principles out across three other text weights — light, regular and bold. However, we toned down the energy and character slightly to allow the headline weight to shine at large sizes while the text weights provide supporting copy at smaller sizes.

The logotype has been cleverly incorporated into the glyph set, allowing the iconic name to be used in playful messaging constructs with ease. A detail that the in-house Very design team have greatly appreciated.

Type

Digital