Funeral service company goes Beyond clichés
Online funeral service company, formerly known as Funeralbooker, has renamed itself as Beyond and partnered with design studio SomeOne to craft a brand identity that stands out in the funeral sector and brings transparency to the business.
According to SomeOne’s website, research shows that while people look for comparisons on cost for everything from cars to the groceries, when the subject surrounds funerals, people turn to their local Funeral Director without considering other options. While money might be the last thing one wants to think of when losing a loved one, the realities of everyday life still plague the mind. Beyond aims to provide users with a cheaper and more transparent process when booking a funeral.
Founded in 2015, Beyond works to help those in grief by giving them a platform to search for funeral directors, compare prices online, gain assistance in writing wills, and settle assets and estates.
Enlisting help from an animated mascot of a bearded man, Beyond’s new identity strives to stand out in an industry sector flooded by cliché designs such as sunsets, flowers, and doves. By adopting a yellow and white colour palette and using a personalised sans-serif font, the new brand identity is warm, simple and reassuring.
The visual identity also represents a shift in tone for the company. According to co-founder of SomeOne Simon Manchipp, the brand aims to be “supportive and knowledgeable but not apologetic.” Although funerals are a sensitive line of work to navigate, Beyond has crafted an identity that finds the right balance between compassionate and honest.
The new mascot is designed to be a “charming, respectful and friendly way to get across sensitive information”, Manchipp adds. Acting as a guide throughout the process of booking a funeral, the mascot simplifies the process and lifts some of the weight off of the shoulders of its clients.
Thomas Dabner, senior designer of SomeOne, says, “Traditional brand communications in this sector are trapped in an echo chamber of faux respectability and tradition. Beyond is a contemporary brand for today and so we’ve designed a radical visual and verbal approach to open a new conversation around choice, services and price.”
Versatile in use, the new identity will be featured in a variety of applications including Beyond’s website and app, print communications and customer magazines, business cards and print advertising materials. By adopting an unexpected visual identity, Beyond has expanded brand possibilities in an industry characterized by grief and created an easier and more supportive experience for its users.
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