You may have heard stories of founders wrecking their brains in late-night sessions to find a good company name. Countless bad-to-mediocre ideas get bandied about, until one of the founders takes a lone walk in the forest and suddenly gets struck by a bolt of lightning inspiration. 

It was similar for us, except that the lightning bolt never came (maybe because there are no forests in central London). So we settled on one of those ideas that are sort-of okay but didn’t really fill anyone with excitement. 

That said, at the time, it was the right decision. An unexciting name hasn’t prevented us from growing rapidly, and not obsessing about it allowed us to focus on what matters most: adding value to our clients.

As we have hit an important revenue milestone and grown our team to 25, it seemed like the right opportunity to start a new chapter. 

Most importantly, it needed to be a name and visual identity that our team would love, and that would accurately represent our company ethos and mission. 

The name Pirical instantly connects to the concept of Empirical, which is at the core of our value proposition: to let the data speak, to base decisions on objective information, instead of defaulting to blind faith or groundless assumptions.

Also, because of this semantic connection, there is no doubt about how the word should be pronounced. After years of subtly correcting our clients and partners from [AS-p-rant] to [as-PIE-rant], we are looking forward to a new era of phonetic unambiguity! 

Finally, the .com was available. Despite the proliferation of exotic top level domains (“.ninja” anyone?), we thought that the .com is going to come in handy. 

 Our technology is proprietary, cutting edge and, in some cases, unique. But we’re more than a tech company. Our clients choose us because we give them business value, not more tools.

We use the latest innovations to help our clients decide where to focus attention, how to stand apart from the competition, and how to maximise their impact. All of these are delivered with a smile and a human touch.

Our new company tagline powerful data insights with a human touch reflects our ambition to help the HR and Recruiting community with People Data Analytics. 

While we are data driven and empirical, we want to emphasise the human element in what we and our clients do. Dealing with people is a chaotic endeavour, in the best sense of the word - often inspiring, occasionally frustrating, sometimes unpredictable, never boring. 

And while we have the ambition to tame the unpredictability of managing people with scientific accuracy and impartial analysis, our logo acknowledges that there will always be the need for human qualities — kindness, empathy and patience, to name just a few. Things that no algorithm can do.

The Pirical logo reflects this contrast between the scientific and the human: The black type in a sober font, the square dots on the i, the precision with which the c “plugs” into the a — all that stands for the analytical portion of what we do.

But next to this incarnation of accuracy and rigour is an imperfectly drawn green dot. A playful  complement symbolising the human touch and the lively chaos of the human condition .

Our company colours have also changed. And quite dramatically so. Whereas Aspirant Analytics was dominated by a subdued colour palette…

Since we are a decidedly urban brand, we have decided to largely stop using nature photography. Nature is awesome, but we’ll keep it for the weekends. There’s work to be done. 

Also, we’re an East London brand! While in the Aspirant Analytics days, we used photo models that mirrored our clients’ imagery — modern, but formal and somewhat corporate — we realised that our Shoreditch roots were nothing to hide.

We are proud of having grown and thrived near the Silicon Roundabout. So bring on the industrial chic, exposed brick walls, and people diversity.

But there’s an important nod to our clients: We’re choosing photography where the models are well-dressed and slightly more formal than the average East End co-working space. 

After all, HR leaders in law firms and recruitment professionals will probably not be impressed with bare feet in the office, torn jeans and graffiti walls. As one of our clients who we interviewed for the rebranding told us: “Whatever you do, avoid the flip-flops and beanbag stereotypes.” Wise words, indeed. 

But remember that we are a start-up and have never taken investor money. Bootstrapping is our first language here at Pirical. 

And so it may not be THAT big a surprise for you to learn that ... it’s home-grown. No agency. Just some passionate people who love the mission of the company putting their heads together. 

Our People Data Analyst Rob Griffiths (who has a real knack for visual brand identity) put together a tremendous briefing document, and handed it to a talented designer, Derek Man , who put the final identity together. We then worked closely with Elliot Parker to get the website looking ready to go.