Spring 2019.
# What is Hubub?
Hubub was an ambitious project undertaken by four friends; an engineer, an e-commerce specialist, a front end developer, and myself. Together we laid the groundwork for a transportation logistics platform that focuses on “last-mile” delivery. The idea was to create a parcel delivery system that uses graph theory and machine learning to determine the most efficient method to deliver said parcels.
To do so, we would distribute micro storage hubs throughout the city. Each hub would act as a storing and sorting centre for parcels, creating a smart network that ensures parcel flow capacity is always equally distributed. This would allow us to scale up and down based on seasonal demand.
The first step was to rigorously define our product. Together we wrote a corporate blueprint that defined terminology, key components to the operational plan, and sought to answer questions like how and why.
# The Design
It might seem like putting the baby before the bath water to establish a brand identity before we even had a running simulation, but this project relied on our ability to take advantage of existing resources, meaning we would need to reach out to other companies. So we needed a website… and a logo.
The colour sceme for the UI was heavily drawn from Onfleet, a last mile delivery platfrom we had consulted. Knowing this logo would eventually feature as an app icon, I wanted to focus on simplicity, scalability, and prominently feature the letter H from Hubub.
# A brief digression
Hubbub (/ˈhəbəb/) noun 1. a chaotic din caused by a crowd of people. 2. a busy, noisy situation.
Our identity was formed on the principle of embracing the chaos of human interactions expressed through data.
# Further notes on the design
The final inspiration for the logo came from the interconnectivity of road networks (which feature heavily in our product). I liked that the H is created within the negative space, as if it cannot exist without the presence (or cooperation) of the entities that flank it. After all, we were a service meant to establish connection between retailers and customers. You could say we were the missing piece.
Among the thumbnails you’ll find copies of existing logos I admire, drawn for inspiration.
# The friends we made along the way
Ultimately, you’ll find no such company named Hubub today, but I share this story with you to illustrate my continued belief that that the story of design really is a story about interactions between people. Though noble in our ambitions, the most valuable thing we gained was the friendship we fostered that spring. To come together with a shared ambition of alleviating some stress in the world and perhaps try to imagine more ideal social systems… That’s some potent friendship fodder, my friend.
