Fira – Brand Identity

Fira’s new brand identity was created to reflect the company’s goal of giving people the power to mould the city around them to better suit their needs. Fira is a company that wants to be a part of people’s lives and a platform they can use to fulfil their dreams.

The beating heart of the brand identity is a set of 30 photographs taken in Helsinki, Finland - Fira’s home. The photos were taken by three different photographers with very different styles. The goal was to provide a richer and more heterogenous look at the city than is typical for brand photos. The photos convey Fira’s unique perspective on the world.

Using three different photographers ran a very real risk of creating an incoherent whole, so special attention had to be paid to the briefing documents to make sure the photographers understood the values Fira was looking to manifest in the photo set. The result was a stellar set of brand photos that provides a glimpse a city populated by empowered citizens and comfortable enough in its own skin to put forward all its faces - from the northern maritime nature to urban concrete structures.

An integral part of the Fira brand are patterns that provide an almost tactile texture to the look & feel. They are seemingly abstract, but impart a feeling of familiarity. As you zoom out, you realize they depict spaces - both man-made and ones moulded by natural forces. The map fragments lend themselves to infinite variations, including bringing in existing spaces where Fira works to help “People build cities”, as is one of their most important goals. Then an abstract graphical element becomes a powerful storytelling tool.

Another way in which the brand identity emphasizes Fira as a unique entity is through the creation of its own headline font: Building Sans. The font combines friendly approachability with solidity and dependability - just like the city homes and urban environments Fira wants to create with its customers.