Quaderno

Quaderno is an automated tax management software for online businesses. From accurate calculation of VAT on sales in any country, to automatic invoicing or periodic returns. Their customers may relax and have more time for valuable tasks, or just take a break. They're a benchmark for the startup world because of what they do but, above all, because of how they do it. The team behind the software is approachable and actively listens to their users to improve their daily lives. This purpose defines both their service and the company's culture. Quaderno has been profitable for over 20 years with their SaaS, working only 25 hours a week, as they explained here.

They came to Soluble to match their brand with their present reality, enhance conversion, and receive higher quality visitors to their website. With the goals in mind, we got to work. We began with an immersion to develop a sustainable strategy and then make decisions to give the new Quaderno a face, a voice, and a home.

In this first immersion phase, we put the magnifying glass on the diverse team that makes up the brand, the people they target, their customers and potential customers, and also on the sector. We came away with valuable information. The team reinforced three fundamental concepts of Quaderno, as an organization and as a product: transparency, simplicity, automation.

The brand's competitive environment is focused on a single type of customer, either by volume or activity. However, Quaderno is for all types of companies. Its customers are diverse (entrepreneurs, freelancers, small and medium-sized companies, selling in several countries...), united only by the digital component of the business. Despite their diversity, users highlighted the same points as the team, the simplicity, transparency and automation that Quaderno's software and customer service bring them. The perfect match.

our analysis, we also spotted an opportunity as a brand. Faced with a descriptive sector full of hygienic products, Quaderno offered much more than a service: a different way of managing taxes. We saw an opportunity to elevate a good product to a great brand with a great product. And we went for it.

The brand platform would aid us in making decisions that boost the brand and the product.

In this case, the complex and enriching personality was relevant for what was to come.

And, of course, the purpose was the driving force: making financial obligations visible to make the concerns of clients 'around the world' invisible.

The brand territory was also of key, that security, efficacy: peace of mind. A peace of mind that goes beyond the product, related to the support offered by the team behind the tool and, above all, to the well-being of the people who make possible the businesses it supports.

With this updated strategic base, we began to shape the new universe. Quaderno was the oasis among so much bureaucracy and legal information, and this reminded us of the respite that, among all the information in a newspaper, an element with a lot of personality: the newspaper strip.

This is how the new logo was born, inspired by the letters found in the titles of comics. An intelligent, warm, friendly typography. Like Quaderno. Its rounded edges make it approachable and its height makes it easy to read and understand.

Newspapers are also present in the choice of color palette. A selection that is relaxing and comfortable, with some accents that multiply its versatility.

Perfectly in tune with the color palette are our images. Their tones are welcoming, with low contrast and saturation, with a layer of soft grain reminiscent of newspaper images. The photography is expressive and human, allowing us to show those moments of relaxation that are possible thanks to the tranquility of counting on Quaderno for the most tedious tasks of the business.

In this identity, illustration plays a leading role, expanding our visual universe. We use it to highlight SaaS features or to communicate, in a simple way, complex concepts.

This is how Qoodle, our own doodle, was born to represent the brand personality. Simple, timeless and close, it travels through Quaderno's universe relaxing the tone of the information and bringing peace of mind.

And verbally, how does Quaderno express itself in this new phase? The tone of voice gives coherence to the entire universe of the new Quaderno, rounding out the brand experience for our international users.

Therefore, our writing guide aims to facilitate a close and current communication, with resources that make it coherent and recognizable, no matter who is speaking on behalf of the brand, at any of its points of contact. It also includes differential elements, sparks that humanize the brand and also coexist organically with the visual identity. One of these sparks are onomatopoeias. Uff, Ohmmmm. They help us to express emotions and insights in a simple, friendly, universal and direct way, echoing the emotions of customers and giving a breath of fresh air among so much information, like a comic strip hero.

The strategy and the brand universe have given rise to a new digital home for Quaderno. A very functional and practical website at the service of the customer and the product. In it, the software to solve complex and tedious tasks coexists with this new world we have created, closely linked to the moments of peace of mind and the editorial world of newspaper strips.

We find videos and photographs of people working with their computers but in a relaxed way, accompanied by a cup of steaming tea. Titles, straight edges, layout... and many other elements that take us to the world of the press. And all this with the friendly Qoodle accompanying us in our navigation, interacting with the texts, photographs and illustrations.

Quaderno has a new face, voice and digital home. A whole universe that shows the evolution and is faithful to the essence of this passionate team. As Carlos Hernandez, CEO and founder of Quaderno says, "it perfectly reflects who we are, where we come from and where we are going".

We’ve been very, very happy to share the beginning of this new stage with the team and we’ll closely follow their next steps on the road to peace of mind.