Digital Brand and Experience Innovation Studio
Founded in 2016, Fiction is a brand and product innovation consultancy based in Sofia and Berlin, specialising in startups. For those running on a future-fuelled ambition, the pursuit of success is made better when you have an honest partner in your corner for the course. We're fiercely committed to differentiation, and we build brands that are defining new visions for tomorrow.
The brand-led product experiences we create aim to connect with people deliberately through all points of interaction. These days, Fiction is involved in just about every step of a company launch, from defining—and even creating—the product to developing its brand online and facilitating introductions between investors and promising founders.
headquarters
other locations
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Focus
Portfolio
Visa, Circula, Endeavor, FocusVision, XAIN, LimeChain, Progress, Omnius
Capnamic Ventures
Since 2012, Capnamic has been investing in startups while giving them passionate support and access to outstanding networks. Almost a decade later the core remains the same but there is more than just change happening - their team has grown since then; funding for new investments has increased as well as startups in their portfolio have grown exponentially.
Capnamic asked us to craft their brand narrative and solidify it with a new identity system. Through workshops, we explored Capnamic's story as an organization and together defined a bold new identity to reflect their growth and maturity, while conveying approachability and excitement about what’s coming next. The brand name is a combination of the words “capital” and “dynamic. The wordmark represents the startup's growth potential after being backed by Capnamic.
We created a visual language that captures the excitement of building the future and focuses on bringing exceptional humans forward, as they are tomorrow's world game-changers. Authentic photos with a minimalistic blurry or clean background paired with the colours and gradient patterns, shapes and backgrounds form a distinct, clean look. Abstract photography brings us into our future through its futuristic forms which illustrate how technology shapes each individual person in this world today.
Department of Noise
Voice search, audio advertising and podcasting have made it possible for more brands to connect with consumers on an emotional level. Emotionally open and inspired people are the driving force for social progress - and thus the key to a successful future. Department of Noise, the leading Swiss agency for audio branding, want to make a contribution to this with their work. They approached us to redefine their brand narrative and visually express their approach of making brand values and ambitions unmistakable and emotionally tangible, through a new visual identity.
Eleven Ventures
Eleven has been one of the organizations to pioneer corporate innovation programmes in SEE, acting as a driver for collaboration and innovation between startups and enterprises around five technology verticals - Fintech, Healthcare, Future of Food, Future of Work, and Ecomtech.
That's why they have pinpointed these five key investment areas as a focus for their latest fund. Those are the categories where Eleven can maximize synergies with other companies and achieve better returns than average, leading to greater success overall in their efforts over time. Also, this sets these guys apart from most regional VC funds that are usually industry-agnostic.
Lucid Dreaming
Sleep and dreams have fascinated people for centuries and yet, most that we know about them is based on theories. Sleep occupies nearly a third of our life but we tend to give little attention to that, and we often neglect its importance. This could lead to a number of health issues such as: depression, insomnia, diabetes, mental illness etc.
In that regard sleep isn't just a meaningless process or an obligation; it's a critical function during which our bodies balance and regulate our immune system, blood circulation, and most importantly, our brain memory functions. And while sleep is essential, a high-quality dream could be the key to achieving an even healthier and happier life.
Healsty
Healsty aims to show that healthy and tasty go well together as we speak of modern eating. With its intention of being as helpful as entertaining Healsty won us over and inspired us to show that “fun”, “educational” and “attractive” should not be mutually exclusive attributes when it comes to food culture. As a response, we came up with a bright, colorful, and dynamic visual concept, where colors should be associated with the rich palette of ingredients. We emphasize vibrancy, vitality, and playfulness across the entire identity system.
Healsty
Healsty aims to show that healthy and tasty go well together as we speak of modern eating. With its intention of being as helpful as entertaining Healsty won us over and inspired us to show that “fun”, “educational” and “attractive” should not be mutually exclusive attributes when it comes to food culture. As a response, we came up with a bright, colorful, and dynamic visual concept, where colors should be associated with the rich palette of ingredients. We emphasize vibrancy, vitality, and playfulness across the entire identity system.
Healsty
Healsty aims to show that healthy and tasty go well together as we speak of modern eating. With its intention of being as helpful as entertaining Healsty won us over and inspired us to show that “fun”, “educational” and “attractive” should not be mutually exclusive attributes when it comes to food culture. As a response, we came up with a bright, colorful, and dynamic visual concept, where colors should be associated with the rich palette of ingredients. We emphasize vibrancy, vitality, and playfulness across the entire identity system.
Circula
Rebranding project for Circula - a fintech startup having the ambition to make people's lives easier by saving them the only irreversible value in the universe - time. This core mission has been fully brought to life through their product - a mobile application that aims to make business expenses management easy, quick and non-problematic.
Circula
Rebranding project for Circula - a fintech startup having the ambition to make people's lives easier by saving them the only irreversible value in the universe - time. This core mission has been fully brought to life through their product - a mobile application that aims to make business expenses management easy, quick and non-problematic.
Circula
Rebranding project for Circula - a fintech startup having the ambition to make people's lives easier by saving them the only irreversible value in the universe - time. This core mission has been fully brought to life through their product - a mobile application that aims to make business expenses management easy, quick and non-problematic.
LimeChain Outdoor
A pioneer in the development and application of blockchain technologies for startups and corporate clients.
Reviews
the project
Branding for Fintech Startup Company
"The team's highly-structured approach, constant communication, and the quality of the deliverables are impressive."
the reviewer
the review
The client submitted this review online.
Please describe your company and your position there.
I'm a founder and CXO of a Fintech start-up that targets SME corporates in Germany. We are currently in stealth mode and will enter the market in Q1 2023.
For what projects/services did your company hire FictionDesign, and what were your goals?
FictionDesign created the visual and verbal brand identity to support fundraising, website and entry into the Germany market.
How did you select FictionDesign?
Our network recommended several brand and design agencies that had experience in building brands for start-ups. We had a beauty contest with three short-listed agencies. After analyzing, and discussing their experience, comparable projects, their individual offer and the personal fit, we decided to go with FictionDesign.
Describe the scope of their work in detail, including any steps and the final deliverables.
We went thru a structured process over 2 months to define and build the brand. This was done via several online workshops with the broader team and weekly / daily alignments in a smaller group. The team defined three different visual identities (full concepts), we then selected the preferred option and it was fine-tuned and assets (CI Guide, branding, website) finalised. In parallel, the verbal identity (messaging) and pitch deck for fundraising was also completed.
How many people from the FictionDesign team worked with you, and what were their positions?
My main PoC was Jordan (Partner, Brand Strategist). We also actively engaged with Atanas (Partner) and Sofia (Art Director) throughout the project.
Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?
The end results was a fresh and modern visual and verbal design (brand) for us to build on as we enter the German market. The design excited the management, employees and wowed our investors.
Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timeliness.
FictionDesign was super responsive and flexible which made it easy for us to run the project while we focus on building the company (early stage). The whole project was done purely virtual. As they are a distributed team and have all the tools needed to exercise a design / branding project on a remote basis.
What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?
The team's highly-structured approach, constant communication, and the quality of the deliverables are impressive.
Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?
We faced the unfortunate effect of CoVID. This sometimes made it difficult to stick to the timelines. However, the team overcame this is open and transparent communication.
the project
Rebranding Services for Venture Capital Startup
"FictionDesign team was very strong in communicating with us throughout the whole process."
the reviewer
the review
The client submitted this review online.
Please describe your company and your position there.
I lead Marketing & Communications at the early-stage startup investor Capnamic Ventures.
For what projects/services did your company hire FictionDesign, and what were your goals?
After being almost a decade in the market, Capnamic decided to rebrand in order to have a visual identity which truly reflects the growth, the chance and the change the company has experience since its first launch. We were aiming to build a visual brand which shows our uniqueness and reflects our position in the market.
How did you select this vendor?
We spoke to several brand and design agencies which had experience in building outstanding brands for venture capital firms and/or startups. After analyzing and discussing their experience, comparable projects, their individual offer and the personal fit, we decided to go for FictionDesign.
Describe the scope of their work in detail, including any steps and the final deliverables.
Strategy & Definition Brand Definition document (.pdf), including:
— Research findings and key insights
— Brand story framework
— Short form narrative
— Long form narrative
— Brand personality
— Brand behaviours
— 2 Key stakeholders journey mapping
— Competitor audit: 5 Benchmark brands
— Brand opportunities:
Recommendations Create Creative route presentation that allows the visualization of the identity (pdf), including:
— Symbol and brandmark
— Image style examples (5-10)
— Colour palette
— Typographic hierarchy: headlines, body copy and subheads for web and print
— Example applications
— Website look and feel
— Social media covers
— Merchandise
— Newsletter template
— PPT slide example (x3 content slides)
Key messaging document (pdf), including:
— Tagline
— Key messaging (x5)
Activate Production-ready master assets, including:
— Brandmark (x1, delivered as: .ai, .psd and .png)
— Brand principles document (x10-20 pages, .pdf) Website architecture
— Navigation and site framework
How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?
1) Partner & Designer
2) Partner, Strategy & Operations
Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?
We received outstanding feedback from a variety of stakeholders, including our most important stakeholder groups of founders and investors (LPs). All of our Marketing channels such as Website, Social Media, Newsletter received a massive boost in usage and engagement through the launch of the rebranding.
Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timeliness.
From a detailed project plan in the beginning, to setting up a Trello board for project management, regular check-ins as well as ad-hoc support, the FictionDesign team was very strong in communicating with us throughout the whole process.
What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?
- Can-Do attitude
- Strong opinion yet open and strong in reacting to client feedback
Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?
None
the project
Branding for Blockchain Company
"Their professionalism, empathy, human touch, and perfectionism to every detail of the process set them apart."
the reviewer
the review
The client submitted this review online.
Please describe your company and your position there.
LimeChain is a Blockchain & DLT Solutions company that helps businesses in their digital transformation efforts using blockchain technology. I'm the CEO of the company.
For what projects/services did your company hire FictionDesign?
We hire FictionDesign to create the company identity of LimeChain
What were your goals for this project?
Creation of professional looking corporate identity that is in line with the industry specifics used for visual communication, colour schemes, shapes used.
How did you select this vendor?
Referral from a partner. We have considered multiple vendors but Fiction shine from the rest with a proven track record and a great portfolio.
Describe the project in detail.
Creation of corporate identity including:
- Logo
- Colour scheme
- Brand patterns
- Business card designs
- Company merchandise designs
- Digital assets
What was the team composition?
The team was consist of 2 people - both founders and managers in the studio. Both designers have both graphic and web skills which contributed greatly to the overall success of the project.
Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?
The end results were clean, minimalistic designs that made LimeChain stand out from the crowd. All stakeholders were impressed with the end result.
How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?
Everything went seamless. The communication was great and expectations were managed correctly. On top, the team was quite flexible with our hectic schedule.
What did you find most impressive about this company?
Their professionalism, empathy, human touch, and perfectionism to every detail of the process set them apart.
Are there any areas for improvement?
None I can think of on top of my head.
the project
Branding For Tech-Based Business Solutions Company
"Fiction design was super responsive and flexible"
the reviewer
the review
The client submitted this review online.
Please describe your company and your position there.
I work as a Marketing Manager for a business solutions company. Our mission is to make business expenses effortless so everyone can focus on what matters most to them. We combine human centered design, state of the art technology and our appetite to tackle complex problems in order to free people from repetitive manual work.
For what projects/services did your company hire FictionDesign?
Come up with different concepts and then implement a complete rebranding including brand guidelines and a new web design.
What were your goals for this project?
The main goal for the rebranding was to position our company as the number one solution for the mid market. Fiction design came up with a perfect concept for it.
How did you select this vendor?
Fiction design was recommended to us by a different customer - wo was super happy with their work. As we checked out different projects of fiction design, it was clear to us that we want to work with them!
Describe the project in detail.
Once we agreed the scope and details of the project we had different Skype sessions where we brainstormed about the ideal outcome. Fiction design was able to really understand our vision and come up with amazing concepts that exactly matched our expectations. During the implementation process, they even came to our office in Berlin to discuss some matters face to face.
What was the team composition?
We mainly worked together with Atanas, the partner of Fiction design and Sofia a Branding and Design manager.
Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?
The outcome of the project exceeded our expectations and we're looking forward to finally go live with the new branding. Especially the creative concepts that Fiction came up with were a perfect match for our brand.
How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?
We used trello as project management tool which worked totally fine. Important matters were discussed via Google Hangout or in person. Fiction design was super responsive and flexible which made it easy for us to run the project while focusing on our business matters.
What did you find most impressive about this company?
The amazing illustrations that Sofia came up with.
Are there any areas for improvement?
Nothing :)
the project
Brand Design & Strategy for Real Estate Development
"This outcome gave us a glimpse of what a difference it makes when working with dedicated professionals."
the reviewer
the review
The client submitted this review online.
Please describe your company and your position there.
I am the head of development at a regional branch of a real estate group.
For what projects/services did your company hire FictionDesign?
We hired FictionDesign to create the brand for a new development project in our region.
What were your goals for this project?
We hoped that FictionDesign would give our project a unique and distinctive identity, one that sets us apart from competitor developments.
How did you select this vendor?
FictionDesign came recommended by another designer as a strong brand and development studio.
Describe the scope of their work in detail.
Our engagement began with an introductory meeting and a discussion of our expected results. FictionDesign used this time to ask all of their questions and workshop several details of the project, which became the basis of a creative brief. Their team later provided three different brand designs for our consideration. We selected one and then turned our focus to developing it. FictionDesign further expanded the chosen design and created a brand book to include standardized texts, colors, fonts, logos, and the like.
What was the team composition?
We worked with one lead designer, one junior designer, and one copywriter.
Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?
Our company was very receptive of the final brand. We had not engaged vendors in this way before. This outcome gave us a glimpse of what a difference it makes when working with dedicated professionals.
How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?
We utilized a cloud service to communicate and share documents, which worked very well.
What did you find most impressive about this company?
I admire their chosen path of focusing only on creating brands and corporate identities and not distracting themselves with various other services. Their creativity and design abilities make them stand out.
Are there any areas for improvement?
No, they met all of our requirements.
the project
Branding for Digital Marketing & Consulting Company
“They offered high-quality services at an affordable price.”
the reviewer
the review
The client submitted this review online.
Please describe your company and your position there.
I’m the founder and CEO of my own digital marketing and consulting company.
For what projects/services did your company hire FictionDesign?
I needed a vendor to help me strategically build my brand identity.
What were your goals for this project?
I wanted a message that communicated our values to our audience while positioning us well in the market.
How did you select this vendor?
They offered high-quality services at an affordable price.
Describe the project in detail.
FictionDesign helped turn my ideas into a working brand strategy. We went through a back-and-forth process, making changes and revising communication strategies until we landed on a final brand identity. The engagement was pretty smooth.
What was the team composition?
Because they’re such a small studio, I was able to work directly with the founders of FictionDesign. It was a huge benefit because they’re very experienced in the branding space.
Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?
With the help of FictionDesign, we now have a playful brand identity that communicates our message exactly the way we envisioned.
How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?
They managed the project pretty efficiently.
What did you find most impressive about this company?
I really appreciate the open access I had to the founders. It was like working with experienced resources from a large agency with the flexibility and efficiency of a small studio—all at an affordable price. With bigger companies, you’d have to pay at least three times as much for the same level of service I received from FictionDesign.
Are there any areas for improvement?
There’s room for improvement with every company. FictionDesign could’ve provided more detailed progress updates during the project. They implemented management tools to track their tasks after finishing my project.
the project
Branding Services for Audio Branding Company
"We liked their past work, culture, and approach."
the reviewer
the review
The client submitted this review online.
Please describe your company and your position there.
We are an Agency for Audio Branding, founded by my partner and myself 10 years ago. We create sonic worlds, that accurately embody your brand.
For what projects/services did your company hire FictionDesign, and what were your goals?
The objective was to find a new visual identity that matches the values and the positioning of DoN.
How did you select this vendor?
We liked their past work, culture, and approach.
Describe the scope of their work in detail, including any steps and the final deliverables.
Translating the brand into a visual world (executed within online workshops), coming up with creative sketches/concepts, finetuning the chosen path, producing the assets with a redesigned webpage as the center of it all.
How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?
One brand strategist, two designers with strategic mindset.
Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?
Our website: http://departmentofnoise.com The DoN rebranding movie: https://vimeo.com/609747170
Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timeliness.
The whole project was done purely virtual/digital. Fiction is used to this and have all the tools needed to exercise a design project on a remote basis. Every task has its tool.
What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?
We always felt understood, and they managed to come up with a result that was 100% in sync with the strategic thoughts on the brand that was delivered to them.
Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?
Nothing worth mentioning.
FictionDesign has successfully established a modern visual and verbal brand identity, allowing the client to enter the German market. The end clients have commended the internal team's design. They are responsive and flexible in the partnership.