When a designer who created iconic logos for Instagram and Oculus recommends his clients to use young Latvian startup for managing their brand visuals one has to ask – WHAT?!
Corebook launched in February 2020 and already in the first month, it gained recognition for its concept and design in various international design forums. The tool ensures that brand guidelines are available at all times for those who need them, and can be updated quickly.
Late 2020, Corebook was picked for the 500 Startups Eastern Europe programme in Georgia and “graduated” among the top 5, getting into the growth phase of the accelerator.
“We also received additional funding, which allowed us to develop a new product that helps to build and create brands, and is aimed specifically at creative agencies and designers,” said Raitis Velps, head of marketing at Corebook.
In a year the company has gone far. One of the most prominent clients is a New York-based designer Mackey Saturday, who has developed logos for Instagram and Oculus, and who recommends using the platform to his clients.
Like for so many other startups – the team started to solve the challenge they faced in their previous jobs. They worked at an agency with various brands and needed to create visual material every now and then. To do this, they asked customers to send a brand book or guide, which was usually in PDF format, often with a vast number of additions and comments.
“One of our customers was a large retail chain in Latvia, which sent us a huge brand book in PDF document, but with very incomprehensible instructions – what to take, what to ignore, which is outdated but not yet confirmed,” said Velps.
“After several similar cases, we realized that nowadays such outdated formats are not suitable – difficult to send, they are constantly outdated, and in the end, causing only headaches.”
That pushed the team to think about how could brand guidelines be done in a digital interactive format. There were not many offers and the existing ones were not very attractive in terms of price, offer, or user experience.
“It must be said that even today this niche is quite empty. There are three or four big players in the global market, including Corebook,” Velps said.
