TAX FREE EASY Logo Refinement and Visual Identity: From Nine Lines to Seven, Making "Easy" Visible

A brand called Easy starts by subtracting

In 2017, Travel Easy Innovation GmbH of Frankfurt, Germany, commissioned Xinming Design directly to refine the logo and build the visual identity of its tax refund brand TAX FREE EASY (易全退). The logo is a sphere of grey and blue arcs; Xinming Design kept that structure and made only three refinements: a tidier arrangement of lines, nine lines reduced to seven, and a brighter, more saturated blue within the existing colour family. On that basis it set two brand colours, Luxury Gray and Brilliant Blue, four secondary colours, a supporting graphic of broken concentric rings, and eight Chinese and English lockups, and extended them to in-store lightboxes, shop windows, shopping bags, the tax refund form book and table cards. The client adopted the refined brand colours.

What makes a tax refund hard is that you cannot see it

TAX FREE EASY (易全退) is the tax refund service brand of Travel Easy Innovation GmbH, handling VAT refunds for international travellers shopping in Europe, especially travellers from China.

A tax refund is an uneasy thing. Travellers shop abroad, fill in forms, find customs for a stamp, post the paperwork, and then wait for the money to reach their account; every step happens in an unfamiliar language and set of rules, and the outcome is only known later. However good the service, travellers cannot see the process. They can only see how the brand looks in the shop, on the form and at the airport.

The promise is already in the name: Easy. In 2017 the brand had its Chinese and English names and a logo, but the logo had many lines and greyish colour, and blurred when small. Beyond the logo there was no set of colours, graphics or lockup rules, so shops in different places made their own materials. A brand called Easy cannot afford a complicated look.

No redraw, three subtractions

The logo is a sphere: two sets of arcs, grey and blue, cross upward from the left and right, leaving an opening at the top; the lower half is a solid area of blue, with two small arrows, one pointing left and one right, on its curved surface. The structure was already in use, so Xinming Design did not redesign it. The proposal lists only three refinements:

1. Lines: the adjusted lines are arranged more neatly and run more naturally.

2. Colour: without changing the existing colour family, the brightness and saturation of the logo were raised, making it cleaner and clearer.

3. Detail: the lines were reduced from nine to seven, so the whole is simpler and easier to recognise when small.

All three are subtractions or calibrations; none adds anything. Two fewer lines look like a small change, but for a logo printed in the header of a form, on a phone screen and on a shop door sticker, being recognisable when small matters more than looking good when large. Cutting nine lines to seven puts "Easy" into the logo first.

The proposal also provides construction drawings for the logo and for the Chinese wordmark 易全退, fixing the proportions of arcs and strokes.

Grey for trust, blue for efficiency

There are only two brand colours: Luxury Gray (PANTONE 429 C, #8E9DAA) and Brilliant Blue (PANTONE 285 C, #006FD7), matching the two sets of arcs in the logo. The proposal gives each colour a set of images: the grey page opens with the word BAUHAUS set vertically, with "SIMPLE" (simple, trust) and people in business suits; the blue page carries "EFFICIENCY" (efficiency, wisdom) with a city, a handshake and molecular structures. For a German company this can be read as a clear source: the grey borrows the simplicity and reliability of the Bauhaus, while the blue carries efficiency and technology. The four secondary colours are yellow (#FFFF00), orange (#F29100), purple (#9C7FCD) and light blue (#00A0E9); the proposal gives RGB and CMYK values but no PANTONE, and sets a frequency of use for each: yellow 40%, orange 60%, purple 80%, light blue 30%.

A little shopping joy in a tax refund

With only grey and blue, the brand would be reliable but cold. A tax refund comes after shopping, while the traveller is still carrying what they bought. The mood board on the secondary colour page reads "EFFICIENCY" (efficiency, speed) and "HAPPY" (relaxed, cheerful), with smiling faces holding shopping bags.

So the four secondary colours are not decoration but a division of labour: the brand colours make people feel safe; the secondary colours let them relax.

Unfolding the sphere into turning rings

The supporting graphic comes from the arcs of the logo: several broken concentric rings, as if the sphere had been unfolded and set spinning. The proposal labels the rings "high speed rotating", "swift", "efficiency" and "science and technology", and describes the idea this way: lines turning at high speed express technology, effectiveness and speed; lively colours give the whole image appeal; and icons of the industry are worked in to show what the business does.

The rings come in a grey version and a colour version. In the applications, the colour rings use all four secondary colours with a few small icons along them, and the centre is left open for the client's promise "100% VAT REFUND" (a client slogan) or for a traveller holding shopping bags. The rings turn; the centre makes the promise. The same structure can frame a number, a person or a QR code, so posters, shopping bags and the form book all look like one family.

Eight lockups, one brand in two languages

TAX FREE EASY belongs to a German company, yet most of its customers are travellers from China. Its mark has to appear in European shops and also be recognised by Chinese readers. The proposal therefore sets eight lockups:

· English first (stacked and side by side)

· Chinese first (stacked and side by side)

· English first with slogan, and Chinese first with slogan (side by side)

In the proposal's words, lockups need to be flexible, so several forms were set for different settings, needs and media. On a door sticker in a German shop, English comes first; on the form book and table cards for Chinese travellers, 易全退 comes first.

Deliverables and extensions

Logo refinement

· Refined lines, colour and detail (lines reduced from nine to seven)

· Construction drawings for the logo and the Chinese wordmark 易全退

· Eight Chinese and English lockups

Core visual identity

· Brand colours: Luxury Gray and Brilliant Blue (CMYK, RGB, PANTONE and web values)

· Secondary colours: yellow, orange, purple and light blue, with frequency of use

· Supporting graphic: broken concentric rings (grey and colour versions)

Applications

· Wall lightboxes, standing lightboxes and in-store boards

· Shop window and outdoor advertising

· Hanging banners and posters

· Paper and plastic shopping bags

· Tax refund form book and folder

· Roll-up banners and table cards

The lightbox, shop window, outdoor, banner, bag, form book, roll-up and table card images on this page are application mock-ups; shop names and some text in them are placeholders.

Looking back nine years on

Three points are worth taking from this project:

1. Refinement is design too. Without overturning the original logo, simply cutting nine lines to seven, brightening the blue and straightening the arrangement kept the recognition the brand already had.

2. Design for small sizes. A tax refund brand appears most often in form headers, on phone screens and on shop door stickers. Being recognisable when small matters more than looking good when large.

3. Reliability and ease can share the work. Grey and blue make people feel safe, yellow, orange, purple and light blue let them relax; the rings turn and the centre makes the promise.

For a service brand named Easy, the promise is written in the name, and keeping it starts with the logo: two fewer lines, a little more clarity.

How to verify

· Client: Travel Easy Innovation GmbH, Frankfurt, Germany

· Brand website: www.tax-free-easy.com (footer signed Travel Easy Innovation GmbH)

· This case page: www.xinming.sg/en/portfolio/3046.html

Further reading

· SuperNova International Logo and Visual Identity: four hearts around a supernova (www.xinming.sg/en/portfolio/3044.html)

· VIP GALAXY: Arranging Nine Letters into a Night Sky (www.xinming.sg/en/portfolio/3041.html)

· Accen Visual Identity Upgrade: writing "Bath Time as Relaxing Time" into a wordmark (www.xinming.sg/en/portfolio/3042.html)

FAQ

Did Xinming Design design the TAX FREE EASY logo?

The structure of the TAX FREE EASY logo is the client's own. In 2017, commissioned directly by Travel Easy Innovation GmbH of Germany, Xinming Design refined the logo within that structure and designed the brand colours, secondary colours, supporting graphic, Chinese and English lockups and identity applications. The client adopted the refined brand colours.

What did the logo refinement change?

Three things: the lines were arranged more neatly and run more naturally; brightness and saturation were raised within the existing colour family; and the lines were reduced from nine to seven, making the logo easier to recognise when small.

What are the TAX FREE EASY brand colours?

Luxury Gray (PANTONE 429 C, #8E9DAA) and Brilliant Blue (PANTONE 285 C, #006FD7), with yellow, orange, purple and light blue as secondary colours.

What does the supporting graphic mean?

Several broken concentric rings, unfolded from the arcs of the logo, expressing high speed rotation, speed, efficiency and technology. The centre is left open for a number, a person or a QR code.

Why eight Chinese and English lockups?

The brand belongs to a German company, while most of its customers are travellers from China. The eight lockups let the mark lead with English in European shops and with Chinese on the form book and table cards for Chinese travellers.

Which companies can learn from this case?

Brands with an existing logo that want to refine it rather than start again; service brands for cross-border travellers that work in both Chinese and English; and companies offering process-heavy services that need to feel both reliable and easy.

Xinming Design is a brand systems design firm. Its work centres on systematic judgment, turning brand strategy into structures that can run and be inherited. www.xinming.sg