Columbus Pro, formerly known as FTF Services is a Kielce, Poland-based shared service center and global business services provider. They provide their portfolio companies across the country, in Europe and around the world with accounting, HR and payroll services, legal and IT support, business and finance analytics.
Their team consists of professionals with local and international background and extensive experience stemming from renowned entities such as Big4 firms, major financial institutions, and various industry sectors.
Columbus Pro as a business enabling centre operates from strategically positioned Poland offices in Warsaw at the prestigious Q22 facility and downtown Kielce.
The Columbus Pro logo is built up from two components: the symbol, as the standalone graphical object, and the wordmark that states the name of the company. The lineweight of the symbol and the font optically correlate with each other, creating an aesthetic impression.
The symbol of Columbus Pro contains a minimalistic, yet stilised letterform of a ‘c’ and ‘p’, reflecting on the initials of the company’s name. Further, the ‘c’ character resembles a ship hull, while the ‘p’ forms a sail or flag. The shapes are optically aligned rather than geometrically and carry the same weight visually.
The symbol is also built up from the three most basic shapes, or rather sections of them: circle, triangle and rectangle. This represents the variety of business activities within the company.
The Columbus Pro pattern set uses the symbol to create visually stunning decoration elements by using the main brand colour, light grey neutrals, as well as the combination of monochromatic hues of 3D versions of the symbol at various alignments, angles and component density.
3D designed patterns for digital platforms.
Vast variety of patterns.
A range of giveaways utilising the flat patterns as marketing tools.
Silkscreen prints and embroidery for apparel and fabric.
The Columbus Pro corporate communication platforms are the first place where the theory turns into practise, therefore it is very important to define the basic and non-negotiable rules about how to use these channels and its instruments to its fullest potential. Their business cards are simplistic and clear with a generous use of white space, their thoroughly tested letterhead is one of the most important tool in Columbus Pro's written corporate communication, while the corporate folder is created for handing out standalone information sheets, as well as business and legal documentation, data sheets, contracts, etc. It is simple, clean and allows greyscale to create a strong contrast with a closeup of the symbol’s 3D version in primary navy blue.
The Columbus Pro icons have a unified look and feel, based on the design language created to communicate on all channels with the highest effectiveness and clarity. To create a consistent impression across all platforms, from print to digital, we have developed a set of icons to support the company's aim for a unique and recognisable style.
Wayfinding system with in-use iconography.
The Columbus Pro palette reflects their brand values and calls out its characteristics with expressing professionalism, stability and clarity. Colour matching plays a main role, when it comes to differentiation of business segments, as well as a key ingredient to create vibrant illustrations that serve to communicate the approachable attitude of the team.
To add - when needed - dynamism and playfulness to the otherwise stable, serious and high-profile core brand, we created custom illustrations for each business units to capture the notion of these services. They are integral parts of the corporate wayfinding system and an equal substitute for photos in the company's visual communication.
The Columbus Pro typeface has been attentively selected to reflect professionalism. The primary font pair is Libre Franklin and Libre Caslon from Impallari type, with the first fallback option being Arial and Georgia. A secondary font is in use for additional assets added to the logo, such as a claim or business cooperation indicator. Columbus Pro's typography is legible, structured by high contrast and features generous applied spacing. When using as a decorative element, primary Columbus Pro type can also support the way finding system or be paired with illustrations.
The digital focal point of Columbus Pro's corporate communication is their landing page, that is minimalistic and on-point. We dedicated this site to maximum conversion of internet traffic coming from business prospects through effective micro-animations, user-centred copywriting and thoroughly filtered information structures.