A speculative, creative deep dive into branding, emotion, and visual storytelling.
Preface: Why Rebrand a Company That Doesn’t Exist?
Here’s a question that seems pointless at first: Why would anyone spend time rebranding a fictional company?
The answer, it turns out, is more interesting than you might think.
Working with a real brand means you inherit a mess of things: existing customer perceptions, office politics, financial limitations, legacy design systems, and so on. There’s often very little room to take big creative risks, especially when it comes to something as emotionally loaded as color. Most brands stick to “safe” palettes—navy for trust, blue for professionalism, green for sustainability, black for luxury.
But what happens when you remove all those boundaries?
That was the genesis of this project: an open-ended, speculative exercise in visual storytelling. We wanted to better understand the psychology of color, not in a textbook way, but in a felt, experimental way. And to do that, we needed a blank canvas. So we made one.
We created a fictional company and went through the entire rebranding process, from logo sketches to full digital applications. And through this process, we uncovered surprising insights about how color works, not just visually, but emotionally, psychologically, and even behaviorally.
This is the story of that journey.
Introducing Nimbus Commuter Air
Meet our fictional brand: Nimbus Commuter Air.
Nimbus is a forward-thinking airline designed for short-haul travel in North America. The company’s mission is simple: provide clean, efficient, and surprisingly delightful flights between underserved cities using sustainable aviation technology.
Think of it as the friendly, climate-conscious cousin of JetBlue. Nimbus doesn’t cater to elite frequent flyers; it’s built for everyday people who want a break from the exhausting airport-industrial complex. Flights are short, amenities are thoughtful, and everything is designed around comfort, speed, and low emissions.
The original visual identity we gave Nimbus was intentionally bland. Picture this: navy blue wordmark, light gray accents, Helvetica Neue typography. It looked clean. Safe. Trustworthy.
It also looked like every other airline ever.
We knew that if Nimbus wanted to stand out, it needed a bolder, more emotionally resonant visual identity, one that started with color.
Phase 1: The “Safe” Corporate Look
Original Brand Colors
- Navy Blue (#1A2A3A)
- Soft Gray (#CCCCCC)
- White (#FFFFFF)
This palette was our control group. It was meant to represent what most real-world startups might choose when they’re trying to convey legitimacy. It was inspired by what you’d see on a pitch deck: clean, muted, no strong opinions. And that’s exactly how it came across.
We showed our early mockups to a small group of test users and asked them to respond with a single word that described the brand. The top three responses?
→ Professional. Traditional. Forgettable.
That last one stuck with us. Because in a sea of blue logos (especially in the travel, banking, and tech industries), forgettable is deadly.
What We Learned:
- Blue is often used to communicate trust and reliability, but it can quickly drift into sameness.
- Corporate neutrality has its place, but it rarely sparks an emotional connection.
- The color palette alone shaped how people imagined the company: they assumed Nimbus was conventional, more expensive, and probably not that different from United or American Airlines.
Phase 2: Going Full “Green”
Our next step was obvious: lean hard into the sustainability message.
Experimental Palette #1
- Leaf Green (#6DBE45)
- Sky Blue (#A7D8F1)
- Off-White (#F5F7F0)
This version of Nimbus was all about the planet. We leaned into the symbolic weight of green as a visual cue for eco-consciousness. Sky blue complemented the theme and evoked a sense of calm air travel. We softened everything to feel “natural,” fresh, and clean.
And to be honest, it looked… fine.
Not great. Not bad. Just fine.
Test users picked up on the eco-theme immediately. Many described the brand as “gentle,” “light,” and “pleasant.” But we also started hearing words like generic, unmemorable, and even a little cheap. That last one surprised us. A palette that was supposed to signal modern sustainability ended up communicating discount air travel and grocery-store organics.
What We Learned:
- Green alone can feel cliché if it’s not grounded in deeper emotional storytelling.
- People often associate green with “affordability,” which can accidentally undermine perceived value.
- Sustainability branding is a crowded space, and color needs to support the story, not tell it entirely.
Phase 3: Warmth, Humanity, and the Unexpected
Here’s where things got interesting.
We decided to pivot hard. What if we gave Nimbus a warm, stylish identity, something you might expect from a boutique hotel or lifestyle brand?
Experimental Palette #2
- Coral (#FF6F61)
- Warm Taupe (#D2B1A3)
- Slate Gray (#484C57)
- Pale Sky Blue (#DDEAF3)
Coral became our lead color: not quite red, not quite orange, with just enough energy to be memorable. Taupe brought warmth and elegance. Slate gray grounded the palette, while pale sky blue kept a subtle link to Nimbus’s aviation roots.
The result was stunning. It felt unexpected, modern, and most importantly, human.
Test users described the new palette as “inviting,” “forward-thinking,” and “soft but premium.” One person said it reminded them of “the feeling of taking a sunrise flight with no baggage, emotional or otherwise.”
That’s the kind of emotional storytelling color can unlock when used intentionally.
What We Learned:
- Warm colors like coral can create emotional resonance, especially when balanced with cool neutrals.
- Color affects tone of voice; people described the brand’s personality differently just based on color alone.
- Unexpected color choices (done well) can dramatically improve brand recall and create a strong point of differentiation.
Putting It All Together: Final Brand Direction
We settled on a coral-led palette supported by elegant neutrals and soft blues. But this wasn’t just about color, it was about what the color made people feel.
In application, the new Nimbus branding felt alive. App interfaces used gradients that shifted like sunlight through clouds. Print materials combined coral accents with textural illustrations and clean typography. In-flight UX screens used soft taupes and blues to soothe travelers instead of overstimulating them.
The brand was still modern, but it had soul now. It had warmth. It had intent.
Key Takeaways: What This Taught Us About Color Psychology
- Color is storytelling in shorthand.
Before a user reads a word or sees a logo, color sets the emotional stage. - Emotional response trumps symbolic meaning.
People may know green means “eco,” but if it doesn’t feel right, it won’t connect. - Unexpected colors create memory.
Coral was consistently rated the “most memorable” hue, even days after testing. - Trust is built through coherence, not just color.
It’s not about choosing a “trustworthy” color. It’s about making every color choice feel intentional and consistent with the brand story. - Design experiments need space to fail.
Some of our early palettes were just okay. But without trying them, we’d never have arrived at what truly worked.
Why Fictional Brands Deserve Real Attention
Rebranding a fictional company might sound like a design student’s exercise, but it taught us more than any client project we’ve worked on. Without the pressure of real-world constraints, we could explore with honesty and rigor. We could listen to user feedback without ego. And we could finally focus on the emotional core of what color means in branding.
Because at the end of the day, color isn’t decoration. It’s a tool for empathy, trust, identity, and memory.
And if a fictional airline can teach us that, imagine what your brand could do with the right palette.
Want to try it yourself?
Pick a made-up business. Give it a backstory. Brand it three different ways: once safe, once literal, once bold. Show it to people. Watch how they react. You’ll learn more about design, emotion, and human perception than any mood board could ever teach.
Color is more than visual.
It’s psychological.
It’s emotional.
It’s personal.
And when used well, it’s unforgettable.