Telefónica: brand and interface design for a global telecoms client

The client

Telefónica is one of the largest telecommunications groups in the world. It was a client of NetDecisions during the period when the firm was building enterprise web and UI work for blue chip organisations across Europe and beyond.

We worked on Telefónica as the design team at NetDecisions / Agilisys, with Jonathan art directing as Head of Design. To be precise about depth: this was oversight and art direction rather than lead hands-on design, so the case study is framed accordingly.

The challenge

Enterprise telecoms work at global scale: interfaces and brand application that had to hold up across a large, demanding organisation and the technology constraints of the early web.

What we did

Brand identity, product design, illustration and web/interface design for Telefónica, with Jonathan providing art direction as Head of Design within the NetDecisions team.

Our approach

Senior art direction over a blue chip enterprise account: holding design quality and brand consistency across the work rather than leading every screen.

Outcome

Telefónica stands in the portfolio as a Tier 1, globally recognised telecoms client from the agency era. Because Jonathan's involvement was at oversight level, it is best used as a credential and high-level case rather than a deep hands-on design story.

Context & coverage

Telefónica was in an aggressive global expansion phase around 2000 to 2001. Its internet arm Terra had acquired Lycos in a deal valued at roughly 12.5 billion dollars, creating Terra Lycos across some 43 countries, while Telefónica Móviles floated in 2000 and launched its e-moción mobile internet portal across Spain and Latin America. The group was among the world's top ten telecoms operators. That is the backdrop to the design work: a global telecoms brand pushing hard into web and mobile at the height of the dot-com build-out.

• Terra at a crossroads (Knowledge at Wharton) and Telefónica Annual Report 2001: Terra Lycos, Telefónica Móviles, and the group's global scale.