GLIRST Phone Accessories Brand Upgrade: Two Gs That Form One Circle

Two Gs that form one circle

In 2021, Xinming Design completed a brand upgrade for GLIRST, a cross-border phone accessories brand of Shenzhen Yinhao Technology. The new logo is a circular single letter mark: one G on top, a second G turned upside down beneath it; the two mirrored Gs meet end to end and form one circle. The brand colours are spruce green, deep crimson and lotus white, and the type is a high contrast serif of the kind found in fashion magazines. The identity extends to business cards, envelopes, letterhead, posters, shopping bags, phone cases, a social media profile and an outdoor poster wall. It is still in use, and the brand is still sold on Amazon.

A phone case can be a luxury too

GLIRST is a cross-border e-commerce brand selling phone cases and other 3C accessories. The brand idea provided by the client is:

Little Luxuries in the Palm of Your Hand.

The client's positioning is equally clear: fashionable women in Europe and America, at a premium price. One line in the design puts it plainly: a phone case is not only a protective device; it can also be an aesthetic symbol of luxury and fashion.

The difficulty is that phone cases are easily seen as functional accessories. There are thousands of phone case brands on Amazon, and most of their logos and packaging look alike.

So the upgrade had to answer: how can a phone case brand look like a fashion brand?

Two Gs

The logo is made of two letters G. The design notes explain that the logo consists of two centrally symmetrical Gs; G is the initial of the brand name, linking the mark directly to the brand and making it easy to remember. The logo is simple and fashionable, using design elements similar to the English typeface, so the whole is consistent. The two Gs also stand for the interaction between the brand's products and 3C products: the phone carries fashion, the brand's product adds a highlight to it, and the product becomes a window through which consumers express their personality.

It can be read like this:

· One G is the phone: the 3C product, the carrier of fashion;

· The other G is the case: the brand's product, adding a highlight;

· Together they form a circle: the two fit together as a window for personal expression.

A single letter, symmetrical, closing into a circle is one of the most familiar forms of a fashion monogram. Using this form puts GLIRST on the side of fashion accessories, not digital accessories, at first glance.

The wordmark GLIRST was redrawn in a high contrast serif with stroke weights that match the mark, with a distinctive treatment of the R. The mark and the wordmark form a stacked lockup.

Spruce green, deep crimson and lotus white

The design sets three brand colours:

· Spruce green (#595834): primary colour;

· Deep crimson (#B11F27): secondary colour;

· Lotus white (#EDE1CB): secondary colour.

The design gives RGB and CMYK values; the HEX values above are converted from the RGB values in the design. Each colour also has a tint scale from 20% to 90%.

None of the three is a typical colour for digital products. Spruce green is like a wool coat, deep crimson like a lipstick, lotus white like a heavy sheet of paper. Together they read more like a fashion magazine than a product listing for electronics.

Fashion magazine type and layout

The brand uses two typefaces:

· English: New York, a high contrast serif;

· Chinese: 花园宋体 (a Song style typeface).

The layouts borrow from fashion magazines: a large GLIRST set over model photography, deep crimson bands carrying client lines such as LUXURY FASHION and LIGHT LUXURY FEMALE TONE, generous white space, and very little text.

The supporting graphic is an all over pattern of the double G mark, in spruce green, deep crimson and lotus white versions, used on envelopes, the backs of business cards, shopping bags and phone cases.

From business cards to a poster wall

Office

· Business cards, envelopes, letterhead, folders, invitations

Products and packaging

· Phone cases (spruce green, with the double G pattern or a crimson poster image), shopping bags

Communication

· Posters, an outdoor poster wall, a social media profile

The application images on this page are proposal-stage mock-ups; the names, addresses, phone numbers and social media account shown on them are template placeholders.

Deliverables and extensions

Logo design

· GLIRST logo (two centrally symmetrical Gs)

· GLIRST wordmark

· Mark and wordmark lockup, logo construction

Core identity

· Brand colours: spruce green (primary), deep crimson, lotus white, with tint scales

· Brand typefaces: New York, 花园宋体

· Supporting graphic: double G pattern in three colours

Applications

· Office: business cards, envelopes, letterhead, folders, invitations

· Products and packaging: phone cases, shopping bags

· Communication: posters, outdoor poster wall, social media profile

Looking back five years on

Three points are worth taking from this project:

1. Decide which category to stand in. A phone case can be a digital accessory or a fashion accessory; choosing the latter changes the logo, colours and type.

2. Borrow the category's common language. A symmetrical monogram, high contrast serifs and magazine layouts are the shared language of fashion brands. With the right language, consumers read the positioning without explanation.

3. Choose colours the competitors do not. Digital accessories tend toward black, white and blue; spruce green and deep crimson stand out more easily in an Amazon product list.

A phone case brand that wants to sell little luxuries must first convince people that it belongs to fashion, not just to electronics.

How to verify

· Client: 深圳市银浩科技有限公司 (Shenzhen Yinhao Technology)

· Brand: GLIRST (on sale on Amazon)

· This case page: www.xinming.sg/en/portfolio/3168.html

Further reading

· WOLFRINE Brand Upgrade: WO Drawn as a Rolling Wheel (www.xinming.sg/en/portfolio/3069.html)

· DAVENA Brand Identity Upgrade: The Watch Brings the Shine, the Brand Brings the Order (www.xinming.sg/en/portfolio/3045.html)

· Alfred Piano School Brand Identity: An A with a Scroll and a Stave (www.xinming.sg/en/portfolio/3148.html)

FAQ

Who designed the GLIRST logo?

The brand upgrade of GLIRST was completed by Xinming Design in 2021 for Shenzhen Yinhao Technology, covering the logo, wordmark, colours, typefaces, supporting graphics and applications. It is still in use, and the brand is still sold on Amazon.

What does the GLIRST logo mean?

The logo is made of two centrally symmetrical Gs that form one circle. G is the brand's initial; the two Gs also stand for the interaction between the phone and the case, with the product becoming a window for personal expression.

What is the GLIRST brand idea?

Little Luxuries in the Palm of Your Hand, provided by the client. The brand targets fashionable women in Europe and America at a premium price.

What are the GLIRST brand colours?

Spruce green (#595834, primary), deep crimson (#B11F27) and lotus white (#EDE1CB); the HEX values are converted from the RGB values in the design.

How are GLIRST and WOLFRINE related?

Both are cross-border e-commerce brands of Shenzhen Yinhao Technology: GLIRST sells phone accessories and WOLFRINE sells luggage. Xinming Design completed the brand upgrades of both.

Which brands can learn from this case?

Cross-border e-commerce and Amazon seller brands; 3C accessory brands moving from functional to fashion positioning; and consumer brands targeting women in Europe and America that need a premium feel.

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