LOGO · DEVELOPMENT
Brand one-pager rule for this step: "Not just a logo. A complete system: full wordmark, monochrome version, favicon, app icon, and a single-mark version that works on a 25 mm QR sticker. Interrogate whether the existing leaf is the right move (leaves are the most overused mark in agritech)."
So we did. We threw the leaf, the wheat ear, the cow silhouette and the generic QR square against the wall, and they all bounced off for the same reason — they describe the category, not the product.
The product is a tag.
So the mark is a tag.
What follows is the development story: four directions we explored and rejected, the pivot to the tag silhouette, the four iterations that took it from a generic luggage label to a context-aware QR mark, and the five colour variants now locked.
For the locked specimens with usage rules, see AgTag Wordmark.html.
Directions explored · rejected
5 sketches · 0 keepersThe leaf
Most overused mark in agritech. Says "we're a green company," not "we're a tag company."
The wheat ear
We're livestock-first. Cereals make the mark a lie before anyone scans it.
The cow
Too narrow. Tags go on gates, crates, and tools too — not just animals.
The QR square
Generic. Every payment terminal and parcel uses one. Says "scan," not "AgTag."
The barn
Heritage cliché. Looks like an estate agent for the countryside, not a working tool.
The pivot
From category to productThe product is a tag.
So the mark is a tag.
Every other agritech mark describes the field the company plays in. Ours can describe the actual object you hold in your hand on a Tuesday morning. The tag is the noun, the verb, the strapline closer, and now the mark — one shape, top to bottom.
Tag iterations · four passes to lockup
v0 → v1 → v2 → v3 → v4Generic label
Luggage tag. Recognisable, but says nothing AgTag-specific. Could be on anyone's suitcase.
Farm tag
Switched to a proper AgTag silhouette — sloped shoulders, hanging hole. Still mute about scannability.
Add QR corners
Drop solid finder squares into all four inner corners. Now it scans as a QR-aware tag — but four corners is one too many.
Three corners
Real QR codes use three finder patterns, not four. Dropping the fourth makes the mark say "QR" to anyone who has scanned one.
Finder rings
Solid corners → ring corners. Lighter weight, breathes on small surfaces, and reads as a finder pattern at sticker scale (25 mm).
Anatomy · of the locked mark
4 elements · 1 silhouetteSilhouette
Hangtag with sloped shoulders — recognisable as a farm tag, not a luggage label or a credit-card slot.
String hole
Real-tag detail. Says "this hangs on something" — a gate, a halter, a crate.
Finder rings
Three QR-style corners in the accent colour. Lighter than solid squares; survives 25 mm sticker scale.
The missing fourth
Real QR codes have three finder patterns, not four. The empty bottom-right is the wink — the mark mirrors the actual technology.
The mark today · five colourways
3 outline · 2 filledOne silhouette, five colourways across light and dark surfaces. Outline variants are the workhorses; filled variants go on signage, stickers, and product surfaces. Full lockup specimens and usage rules in AgTag Wordmark.html.
Green / Orange
White / Orange
Green / White
Green / Orange
