The StartMail logo is one of the main advertising tools for the mail service because it reveals the brand’s essence. This is a non-verbal signal to users, urging them to send letters and not be afraid that confidential information may be in the hands of intruders.
StartMail: Brand overview
Founded: | 2014 |
Founder: | David Bodnick |
Headquarters: |
Netherland |
Website: | startmail.com |
Meaning and History
StartMail allows you to generate an infinite number of disposable email addresses. Moreover, it is intended not only for everyday communication – it is used by many companies, for which special business accounts are provided on the platform. The email service has a lot in common with Startpage because they were launched by the same person – David Bodnick, co-founder of Surfboard Holding BV. Both services aim to protect the privacy and do not collect user data.
StartMail appeared in 2013, which is much later than Startpage. But Gravita Creative Ltd worked on their modern visual identification. In this regard, both brands are similar in concept. They even have the same color schemes, which contain a combination of white, light blue, and dark purple.
What is StartMail?
StartMail is an email platform that protects the privacy of its users. It was created in 2013 and, along with Startpage.com, is owned by the Dutch company Surfboard Holding BV. The founder of the web service is software developer David Bodnick.
The current StartMail logo has two parts. On the left is a stylized square letter envelope with rounded corners. It is divided into two halves by a white line that curves downwards in the shape of a boomerang. This strip resembles the middle of the capital “M,” and the imagination completes the side strokes of the letter: they run parallel to the edges of the quadrangle. Here comes the association with the Gmail logo.
The bottom of the envelope looks like a dark purple rectangle with a notch in the middle. The top is a light blue triangle pointing at a 90-degree angle into the recess located directly below it. The Gravita designers looked at many StartMail logo concepts with different shapes and combinations before coming up with just this one. Among their designs were paper airplanes, origami, and the blue “M.” But the agency staff abandoned all versions in favor of the current emblem.
To the right of the graphic sign is the name of the service. It is also two-tone: the first half (“Start”) is light blue, and the second (“Mail”) is dark purple. Each part starts with a capital letter. To design the inscription, the designers chose a sans-serif font. It could be called simple if they did not round all the corners. This decision makes the logo visually soft.
Font and Colors
Logically, the email service uses a logo with a picture of a mail envelope. In this case, it symbolizes the protection of information because it is an opaque shell that hides the contents of the letter from the eyes of strangers. Dividing the drawing into two parts made it possible to play on negative space: if you look closely, it becomes noticeable that the capital “M” is hidden in it – the first letter from the word “Mail.”
Initially, Gravita designers planned to combine three elements in the lower half of the sign: an envelope, a fortress tower, and a heart. So the protruding edges of the dark purple fragment can be considered stylized teeth of a fortress or halves of a heart. Fortification is associated with reliable protection, and the heart symbolizes love for users.
Both parts of the service name are written in the same font – a grotesque with rounded corners. It resembles Adobe’s Myriad Arabic Regular in shape; only the “M” has a slightly lower middle diagonal. Similar typefaces are Webnar Medium by The Northern Block, Drive Regular by Fontyou, and Noto Sans Display Medium by Google. But the designers at Gravita have rounded the letters to make the lettering seem smooth and streamlined.
The staff of the British agency paid no less attention to the color scheme. They chose a purple theme for StartMail (and sister service Startpage), complemented by white and light blue.
StartMail color codes
Nebula Blue | Hex color: | #6573ff |
---|---|---|
RGB: | 101 115 255 | |
CMYK: | 60 55 0 0 | |
Pantone: | PMS 2726 C |
Dark Byzantine Blue | Hex color: | #202945 |
---|---|---|
RGB: | 32 41 69 | |
CMYK: | 54 41 0 73 | |
Pantone: | PMS 289 C |