News : Bouffant 'puffs up' its look with Rex

Boutique production company Bouffant turned to Rex, a young Joburg-based company of designers to design its new corporate identity for the birth of the company. “Corporate Identity is much more than a picture on a letterhead,” says Rex co-founder Rudo Botha. “It is a visual representation of what the company stands for, and a promise of fulfillment. It sets out an aim for internal stakeholders, and a deliverable for external audiences.” “Every business has a unique soul. It’s our job to find that soul, and to give it shape in the form of a CI,” says Botha’s partner Olivier Schildt. In the case of Bouffant, that soul has its origins in the name itself, which means ‘puffed out’. For Rex, this literal translation neatly captured an essence of the company. “Bouffant is bold. It is proud. It is expressive and creative. It is edgy. It has style. Importantly, it is what it is, and it is confident in what it does,” explains Botha. Working closely with Bouffant, Rex transformed these descriptions of Bouffant into a CI that perfectly captures a creative business with a keen sense of who it is and what it stands for.

“To capture a sense of integrity and authenticity, we used an old style font for the logo; but ‘punked’ it up just enough to demonstrate the energy and confidence that is so much a part of this company. We also used hand-drawn line illustration to show the attention to detail, but complemented this with colour that falls outside the lines, to highlight the very raw creativity and talent that is Bouffant,” Botha explains. The visual language is organic and liberated – and very different from anything else in the sector. “Bouffant is operating in a highly creative field, and because of this, it’s imperative that the CI project the right kind of energy. It takes balls to be different from everyone else, and to be completely comfortable with your unique style. We believe that this CI projects that confidence, and that energy will attract the right clients.

” Executive Producers of Bouffant Lorraine Smit and Melina McDonald conclude that, “Rex really helped bring our vision to fruition. Yes, the team has very strong design skills, but they also bring an intellectual approach to the process. This helped us extract a story and promise that defines our company and our brand and gives us such a strong sense of who we are and what we want to achieve. We are proud to say that the CI has had an amazing response from agency creatives and clients alike.”