I once overheard someone on the London Underground telling a friend about Jamie Oliver’s Recipes, an app we’d built. That feeling is amazing.
It’s also rare. You’ll rarely get someone going out of their way to tell a friend about an app. But you will get someone telling a friend about their workout.
And that’s the point.
No logo isn’t no brand
Your brand runs through every part of your app. It’s in the copywriting, the style and the taste. It’s in the colours, the borders, the subtle drop shadows and the way one screen leads to the next. All of that is your signature, and none of it needs a logo.
The one good case for a logo is the screenshot, because a screenshot travels. But think about who’s sharing it. Most people either keep all their workouts private or post every one of them. If you want your app connected to what they’ve done, a stamped screenshot won’t do it. You have to beat a photo at the gym.
Build the moment
So do something big, creative or a bit odd.
Tell someone that what they lifted today weighs the same as 3,000 hamsters. Turn their run into a video that’s made to be posted. Show them their first 30 days next to their last 30. Give them something they couldn’t make themselves, or something out of the ordinary. Serendipity is one of the greatest things in life.
Workouts are just the easy example. On Feasty, it was a photo of the dish you’d just cooked: “Made it? Share a pic.”
Now it isn’t, “I went on a run and saw an amazing sunset when I went left by the bakery, up the hill, for the first time.”
It’s, “Check this route out. Look, I recorded it.”
You’ve added something to a conversation they were going to have anyway. And every one of those is another chance for someone to see your app.
They’re sharing their workout, not your app.
Some people will still keep it all private, and that’s fine. Sharing should be something they want to do, not something you nag them about.
Then get out of the way
You can still sign your work. Keep it subtle and tasteful, and keep it out of the way.
Or leave it off completely. No branding sometimes works even better, because people comment, “Which app is that?”
And now you’re in the conversation.