Leader in the past, leader in the future

Onet, the biggest Polish portal and brand, is the icon of Polish Internet. However, conducted surveys and the audit showed that the portal’s image has lost its charm and become lackluster. The need for changes was getting more and more evident. The overhaul talks centered on the idea that Onet must compete for users’ free time not only with other portals but also with other media.

New idea

Dragon Rouge was asked to build the brand repositioning strategy and to reflect it in the logo, in the visual identification and in the portal's look and feel. The scope of works included the rearrangement of the architecture of webpages and the visual differentiation of three webpage types - news, lifestyle and multimedia. The works were supposed to help maintain the brand coherence and a unique character adapted to the content. Onet received a new strapline, "World within your reach" - whenever and wherever you want. Some significant decisions were taken at this stage. ".pl" domain was dropped, upper menus were simplified and the logo was moved to the left-hand side. Though more gentle and more modern than the original sign, the new one isn't devoid of character. Placing names of dedicated sections above the dot was an innovative and noteworthy idea. None of the competitors have applied it. Apart from the sign, Onet didn't have any visual identification. The yellow dot, an integral part of the brand, was the backbone and the main creative inspiration. A new flexible identification uses a wide range of colorful dots. Dots were also applied to the homepage icons and to the coloring of dedicated sections. They embody the rich diversity of the world which users discover with Onet - the intriguing and unpredictable world which is constantly changing. Dots aren't placed according to a pre-established fixed algorithm. The brand personality, worked out during strategy preparation process, had a huge influence on the new identification of Onet. New Onet wants to be expressive and colorful, both in its looks and its words. The brand wants to surprise its users, so it must elicit emotions: either hot or cold, never lukewarm.

Charismatic leader

Reflecting a new Onet image in a portal required some decisions to be taken. It was obvious that the homepage couldn't be changed thoroughly; Onet users are used to their browsing routine. From our perspective, the design perspective, the first step was to infuse "breath" and "light" into the website. It meant that some icons and links had to be removed from the homepage. The look of the dedicated sections’ headlines had to be standardized. They were divided into three categories depending on their theme and the content. The first category embraces news sections, for example News, Business or Sport which remained the most neutral. The second category comprises the so-called lifestyle sections, for example Woman, Man or Automotive. They’re differentiated thanks to the upper strip in a specific color and a bar with supplementary info in a matching color. The last category, multimedia sections (for example VOD, Film, Music), use dark coloring for the background and display photos on a vertical slider. Entertainment sections are the only ones to use the colorful dots as additional ornament. Working on a huge organism like Onet has to be a gradual process. That's why many sections are still waiting for a makeover - their look will be changing over time. The best way to follow the changes is to visit Onet!