5StarLogs – Bringin’ the heat
The Estonian firewood producer Kroonipuu had found success through good management and innovative products, growing to become the country’s largest birch exporter. But they needed to be recognisable globally for their range of unique firewood innovations.
To stand out in a competitive market, Kroonipuu needed a strong consistent identity to connect their patented products – the classic ‘Star Log’, their staple ‘Nordic log’, the long-lasting ‘A-log’ and their decorative ‘Candle Log’. As well as an umbrella brand that looked individual and showed-off its heritage – after all Nordic and North European trees, and firewood, are renowned the world over.
Being outdoors and sharing a fire with friends and family on a chilly autumn evening.
In our research for 5StarLogs we found that many firewood brands look very formulaic (without much design consideration) and it is often consumer habit and point-of-sale placement which dictates saleability. This lead us to consider not only the product’s utility, but the emotion which comes along with being outdoors and sharing a fire with friends and family on a chilly autumn evening.
These feelings are conveyed by a simple formula for design – including a strong stamp-like logo – which would work in storage warehouses and shop floors as well as dark sheds and garages. And because 5StarLogs is sold all over the world we needed a set of icons which could easily describe functionality without relying on English descriptions.
The highly visible yellow and black were used due to their semantic references in the varied markets in which 5StarLogs would be sold. In Western cultures these colours mark something to be handled with care and responsibility, while in Arabic cultures yellow is the colour of nature and autumn. This supported the emotions which 5StarLogs wanted to construe – a sense of trustworthiness and safety.
The outcome has been that 5StarLogs is now sold in Europe, Saudi Arabia and is the largest birch firewood supplier the USA. Having received many 5-star reviews, sales of their products are growing. Making Estonian innovation and firewood a benchmark in the market.
