Standardizing the Structure, Preserving Recognition
Storio group is a major European player in personalized photo printing, bringing together six consumer brands historically built with distinct identity approaches.
Some already shared a common structural base. Others had developed strong brand universes, firmly rooted in their markets and recognized by their customers.
These identities represent strategic assets. Any evolution needed to preserve this recognition while establishing clearer consistency across the group.
Project Type
Brand system
Guidelines
Deployment
Context
International Group
Multi-brand
Multi-country
Structuring Without Erasing
The objective was to standardize the structure of the identities as much as possible to establish a shared and stable foundation. It was not about smoothing out differences, but about organizing what could become common without weakening what made each brand unique.
The work began with an in-depth analysis of existing systems: their internal logic, hierarchies, and invariants. Based on this analysis, a structuring framework was defined to harmonize the foundations while allowing essential distinctive signs to remain.
A Common Language
The foundation of the guidelines is based on logo alignment, shape structuring, harmonization of secondary palettes and typographic systems, as well as a clarification of the offering and its uses. This common base allows brands to be understood within a consistent structural framework.
Nevertheless, each identity retains its own logo, primary color, and unique tone. The desired coherence is perceptible without erasing individual distinctiveness.
A Structured Collective Effort
The framework thus defined served as an anchor point for other disciplines in a document exceeding 120 pages. Chapters dedicated to tone of voice, photography, illustration, and motion were developed in collaboration with specialized teams, each within their area of expertise, based on the structuring principles established beforehand.
The system was therefore not built in silos, but through progressive articulation between common foundations and specific expertise.
Putting the Framework to the Test
The guidelines were designed to function across all channels, both digital and print, in a multi-country and multi-language deployment context. Their implementation on real media allowed for testing their robustness and refining their rules through practical use.
This system represents an intermediate step, designed to support the gradual unification of brands over several years. It organizes the transition towards structural simplification, without weakening existing assets.