As Nokia moves forward with its new partnership with Windows, it has begun a detailed brand strategy by creating a customized screen font.
The company, which has headquarters in Westchester County, recently announced it would cut 7,000 jobs through layoffs and outsourcing in a bid to be more competitive in the smartphone market. The layoffs followed the announcement that its smartphone operating system would be partnering with Redmond, Wash.-based Microsoft Corp. and its Windows Phone.
In February, Stephen Elop, newly named CEO in September, brought Nokia and Microsoft together in an attempt to challenge rivals Apple Inc., Google and Research in Motion in the smartphone sector.
In making its move, Nokia also commissioned London-based Dalton Maag, a design company that specializes in typography, to create a typeface called Nokia Pure to coincide with its further entry into the smartphone platform.
Nokia and its design department could not be reached directly for comment.
According to the Dalton Maag case study, the company was asked to design a font family primarily for use in digital media mobile devices and the web that would be, “versatile enough to be the cornerstone for all of Nokia”™s communications worldwide.”
Darryl Ohrt, founder and principal of Humongo, a branding company in Danbury that focuses on online and digital design, called the move by Nokia “extremely smart.”
“This kind of involvement allows them to have complete control across whatever medium they end up working with. Where and how is this going to be viewed is one of the first questions we as designers ask ourselves.”
Ohrt said judging by the examples Nokia has given of its new font, it is not all about aesthetics.
“They”™ve really shown an attention to detail and created a font that uses its size and space efficiently,” said Ohrt. “In looking at Apple, it”™s a brand that is completely built around world-class design; from this it looks like Nokia are really giving it their all and putting something out that formidable from a competitive set.”
Liz Ball, president of TFI Envision, a worldwide consumer branding and design business in Norwalk said, “Typography is even more important in the growing smartphone space because readability has to be optimum. This is something they have to do really well because their competition is Apple and Google, two companies that have very strong design.”
Ball said there are two priorities when it comes to typography; number one is readability, immediately followed by brand connectivity.
According to Dalton Maag, Nokia had to consider supporting languages using the Latin, Greek, Cyrillic, Arabic, and Hebrew alphabets, as well as the Devanagari and Thai scripts in a first-phase introduction. The company said various weights and specific display versions for different sizes were required in the undertaking.
Nokia”™s previous typeface, Nokia Sans, was developed for early stage legibility on low-resolution screens. High-resolution screens made the early fonts appear dated.
“It may not seem like a large gesture at first, but it”™s really a strong move that they would go as far to pursue a custom typeface as they partner with Windows,” Ball said. “It”™s a win-win for the brand and makes and almost always visible element for Nokia very strong.”
Ball said in branding for technological uses there always has to be strong attention paid to how an element ”“ whether it is a logo, typeface or brand graphics ”“ appears on the lowest screen resolution and at varying sizes.
“By creating a brand-specific typeface, Nokia is very much in control,” Ball said. “It also makes all of its on-screen text very specific to the brand and that sense will extend to the quality of the brand and the product. As a consumer looking at that kind of attention to detail creates a sense of thoroughness.”
Ball said if Nokia continues to extend a corresponding sense of detail in its operating system development along with a strong technology offering it should have a strong, fully integrated and extremely competitive brand program.
“In an effort to be consistent across all channels, brands are starting to embrace digital typefaces, even in print,” said Charles Silverman, partner at brand design studio Indigo6 in Norwalk.
Silverman said, for large brands being immediately legible on screens of any size is infinitely important if you want a consistent and well-built message conveyed to consumers.
“In 2009, Ikea”™s printed catalog moved from Futura to Verdana, a typeface designed solely for screens,” Silverman said. “The tail is definitely starting to wag the dog.”
Nokia has fallen behind the strong market competition in the smartphone market from Research in Motion’s Blackberry, Apple”™s iPhone and Google”™s Android at the top end of the market, as well as feeling the pinch from numerous Asian handset makers that produce cheaper phones in emerging markets.
Stamford-based Gartner has recently released study information predicting Nokia will push Windows Phone well into the mid-tier of its portfolio by the end of 2012, and drive the platform to be the third largest in the worldwide ranking by 2013. Gartner has revised its forecast of Windows Phone”™s market share upward, solely by virtue of Microsoft”™s alliance with Nokia.
Nokia continues to be the world”™s largest volume producer of cell phones. Last year it sold 432 million devices, but its market share continued to fall 5 percent over the previous year to 29 percent.
Of the laid off workers, 3,000 of its operating system software development system Symbian, will be shifted to positions with New York City-based Accenture PLC, a technology consulting and outsourcing firm. Accenture will then be taking over Nokia”™s role in the operating systems software development and support services. The shift coincides with the company”™s recently announced goal of cutting operating expenses by $1.5 billion by 2013.
Nokia said in addition to handling Symbian development, Accenture will also be its preferred partner for software development when Windows Phone becomes the main operating system for their mobile phones in late 2011 or early 2012.
