We turned Brain Service’s services into products people could choose in a Brain store, take home and use later.
Positioning · Identity · Packaging · Service spaces
Following the Brain rebrand, we took on Brain Service. The work covered positioning, rethinking the services and refreshing service centre spaces.
A separate challenge was the additional Brain Service services sold in Brain stores. Customers bought them in the shop, but a different company, Brain Service, provided them. That relationship needed to be clear.
View the Brain case studyYou can inspect a device and take it with you. A service is less tangible, especially when you buy it now and use it later.
We gave it physical form: boxes explaining the programme and next steps. Some services were delivered in-store, others at service centres. The packaging needed to explain the purchase and help customers move from payment to using the service.
Protection means a shield, umbrella or dome. Setup means nuts and gears. Familiar symbols explain a function, but do little to distinguish one service from another.
We wanted an image that conveyed the service’s value and stayed in people’s minds. This led to personifying the services, giving each one its own character and voice.
The idea
Five figures. Five personalities.
A clear benefit in every box.
Device protection / Dalai Lama
The idea of calm became the basis of the protection programme. Instead of an abstract shield, it expresses the feeling people seek when choosing the service: less worry about their devices.
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Device setup / Abraham Lincoln
Lincoln’s association with emancipation became a metaphor for freedom from unnecessary tasks. Customers could leave device setup to the service and spend their own time on more important things.
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Custom PC building / Xzibit
We brought the familiar host of a car makeover show into the world of computers. His character represents assembly and customisation, complete with the playful exaggeration of ‘a monitor inside a monitor’.
Repair and maintenance / Isaac Newton
We played on the familiar story of Newton’s apple through modern ‘Apples’ — smartphones. Gravity became the setup for a joke, and repair the answer to an unfortunate drop.
Cartridge refilling / Jackie Chan
Jackie Chan’s agility and recognisable humour shaped the service’s personality. A line about saving the failed takes for the end credits completed the story in his spirit.
We developed a separate kraft box for returning refilled cartridges. It extends the visual system through green, a short line and a clear list of actions: refill, repair, check.
▷ Watch videoA booklet in a sleeve serves two purposes. The cover carries the character and a short promise. Inside are the programme details, terms and the customer’s next steps.
A shared die-cut sleeve unites the range. Colour and portrait identify the category, while an icon and label specify the service. The image makes the product memorable; the information makes it understandable.
The boxes were complemented by a stand in Brain stores presenting the full range of services. Services gained a place on the shop floor where customers could notice, compare and choose them alongside devices.
After purchase, the packaging stayed with the customer. It served as a reminder of the programme, introduced other services and continued Brain Service’s communications beyond the store.
The refresh included the physical service experience: customer areas, device drop-off, wayfinding and workspace design.
The identity retained the Brain logo and distinguished the service division with an orange descriptor. A shared visual language connected the products, communications and service centre.
Photographs of service centres and finished boxed products, from device drop-off to the contents of the packaging.
