From SHHHH to Compendia
In March 2021, after much deliberation, Compendia founder Sam Harrons made the bold and exciting decision to rebrand SHHHH. Joanna Peios explores how the rebrand came about with Sam and Simon McWhinnie, Creative Partner at Ark, plus the inspiration behind the name change.
JP: Sam, SHHHH has been a well- known brand in Norwich for 14 years. Why did you decide to rebrand?
Sam: SHHHH was originally inspired by street art I’d seen around Europe and in a book called Street Logos by Tristan Manco. I created a tag of my own, coupling my initials with the message: ‘SHhhh, keeping my identity a secret.’ It later became an artist collective that provided a platform to support emerging talent in Norfolk. We began printing T-shirts, painting murals, curating art shows and throwing club nights.
In 2012, Nick and Robin, the owners of Dogfish, came on board. Together we grew a streetwear brand, producing sustainably made clothing and accessories. The Norwich guides began as a side project in 2013 but quickly became our most loved offering.
As our products and services evolved, I felt it was time to develop the brand into something that paired better with our refined mission and purpose. I had outgrown the SHHHH brand I created in my teens and wanted to switch things up. Producing travel guides for other cities was part of this vision and SHHHH didn’t feel like the right vessel to carry those plans forward.
Following an amicable parting with Nick and Robin in 2020, I set to work on a new, more ‘grown-up’ brand, one that would preserve the community we had cultivated and stay true to its cultural roots, while appealing to a diverse demographic.
JP: Why ‘Compendia’?
Sam: On the practical side, SHHHH has always been tricky for people to say, locate in search engines or spell correctly! When looking at our core offering – the much-loved travel guide – I explored the words ‘guide’ and ‘directory’, which led to ‘compendium’, plural ‘compendia’ – a collection of concise but detailed information about a particular subject. I liked how it looked and that its meaning was relevant to what we create. I often gravitate towards function and form, and Compendia ticked both boxes for me.
JP: Simon, what was the design brief?
Simon: The main aim of the rebrand was to create an identity that allowed for connections with new audiences, unlocking the potential to expand to other cities and regions, both in the UK and across the globe. And championing a sense of collective community spirit was to be at the heart of it all.
JP: Tell me more about the process.
Sam: I wanted to future-proof the brand identity and think long term, so this was a big focus in
the initial brief and our early conversations. Ark did a great job in getting me to think in new ways through branding exercises. This helped us identify the target audience and overall direction.
Simon: We also needed to get under the skin of the SHHHH brand to understand what worked and what didn’t. From there, we could develop a solid strategy.
JP: What was the idea behind the new identity?
Simon: The strategy of ‘global communities’ led us to the idea of the ‘Co’ becoming the key identifier of Compendia – both as a standalone mark and a prefix to words like ‘Community’, ‘Collective’ and ‘Collaborate’. This allows us to communicate our brand values in a flexible and identifiable way across all our communications, in a globally understood language.
Sam: It also opens up opportunities for side projects and wordplay within the brand.
Simon: The brand is brought to life through powerful community-led messaging, paired with playful typography, iconography and a flexible colour palette. Every city has a unique sense of place, and we felt it essential to find an identity that could be moulded to reflect this.
JP: What did you love about this project?
Sam: I am usually on the design side of a project, so it’s been refreshing to be the client, to collaborate with Ark and see ideas come
to life. I feel energised and excited by the project again. I love the typefaces and colour palettes and am excited by the scalability of Compendia and where we can take it.