HostGator has been a brand that has been contemporary since its inception – be it in our communication style, our designs and even our mascot – Snappy. We’ve also been known to never settle for anything which is why, as a business, we push to always stay relevant and current. For any brand to avoid risking obsolescence, evolution is important. For HostGator, the time for change is now. We’ve been in the web hosting business for 15 years and have for months toyed with the idea of visual identity redesign to align our brand with the positioning and value it stands for.
On 15th April, 2019, we opted to sync the redesign on our websites of all countries including India. The new visual language exhibits a simplified pattern of colours, style and layout, a trend in the technology market. It also adds new forms of animation and user interaction. Head to our website and take a tour of the new design.
To understand the what and the why of the change, we first need to start at the beginning. HostGator was born in 2002 in the United States and has made her way to India, Russia, China, Brazil, Mexico, Chile and Colombia, among other Asian countries; and in that journey, joined Endurance International Group’s brand group, a global online presence technology giant that has approximately 4.8 million customers worldwide and reported revenue of $ 1.14 billion in 2018.
Taking the challenge head on
The process of changing the visual identity of a company is delicate and therefore challenging. How do you capture the same essence in a new way? How do you alter an identity that’s been recognised globally for years without losing what you’ve built? For a global brand, it is also necessary to take into consideration cultural nuances of each country and work with it. The project was one that had to answer these challenges. In the face of a monumental task such as this, we had to remind ourselves of the 3 pillars HostGator was built on:
Credibility – HostGator knows a lot about the web hosting and online presence market. Over the course of these 15 years, hundreds of thousands of websites have been aired and supported by a team of experts trained to serve 24 hours a day, 7 days a week;
Evolution – transmit through visual identity the progress of our technology and services;
Humanization – demystify the world of technology because we understand the pain of our clients. Our mission is to help them be the protagonists of their own history in the digital environment.
The visual language evolved through changes in logo, colour pallette, typography and iconography as well as aspects of illustration and animation.
The new logo uses the Snappy mascot in a simplified way and a slightly modified version of the Galano Grotesque Alt
The transition from Gotham to the new web source, to Galano Grotesque.
A more monochromatic approach betting on the main colors of the brand
While these visual changes to the logo, colour palette, typography are integral to the brand, there’s another element that HostGator is synonymous with: Snappy, our alligator mascot.
Snappy, our mascot who has been the fun element of HostGator that makes us human also now has a new avatar. He is more modern with a cleaner, lighter style.
Our beloved mascot now in a cleaner and lighter style that fits the new brand
Embrace change
The decision to make these changes were a result of numerous meetings, research and testing. We felt the need to evolve with the times as every great brand does. To be updated and relevant is of utmost priority so we serve our customers the latest and the best.
While these changes have been a mammoth challenge for us as a team, from 2002 to 2019, we’re clear that one thing remains the same no matter how much we evolve – our human connect with clients. In closing, allow me to quote Rumi –
“Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself.”
