Going.com

Going.com Brand ID

Social networks can fast become anti-social, as users tend to migrate en mass, like so many digital geese. The technology might be new, but the fickle audience is a classic complication in the provence of promotion and commerce. In a field already dominated by tweets, places and faces, the challenge for Going.com, an online events diary and yes, social network, was to enter a crowded marketplace, set up shop, attract a clientele and, most importantly, keep them.

So the object was to avoid looking like Friendster. We tried the obvious: arrows, directionals, moving stuff. But the more obvious the interpretation of ‘Going’, the more generic the word appeared. When I tried some standard type, both serif and non-serif, ‘Going’ started to stick – or rather, go. We settled on an amalgamated assortment of friendly block serif letters, creating a unique typeface, part Rockwell, part Georgia.

But there was still some concern. Though resonant, and (ever so) subtly unique, there was still a lack of nuance. We went back to the drawing board, attempting to once again integrate some kind of arrow between the letters, al FedEx. Once again, the arrow made every instance seem contrived. How else to affect motion, forward thrust, adelante, without resorting to cliched gesture?

Though it now seems an obvious solution, the drop shadow that finally gave ‘Going’ some needed volition was derived not from focus groups or administrative consensus. The illusive drop shadow, like so many ‘inspired’ ideas, occurred by an energetic game of trial and error.

Going continues to monthly trump its user numbers, and has spread to over thirty major markets nationwide. It keeps going, and going, and going.