Created by its in-house design team, the three-dimensional graphic identity was developed for an 'on-screen' world, according to Nora Yong, Hutchison's manager for media and public relations.
Hutchison, which plans to launch 3 in nine markets, claimed it had rolled out the service in the UK. Yong dubbed the UK launch as a "marathon not a sprint", saying it was offered to "friends of Hutchison" in a soft launch with a limited number of users.
The pace would allow Hutchison to test 3 and work through bugs in the system before launching it to a wider market. The Hong Kong launch is earmarked for the first quarter of next year, with marketing of the new identity likely to start at year-end.
The identity's exterior appears as a three-dimensional titanium shell while its inside moves through the entire spectrum of colours. Print applications will feature six core colours against a white background. Unlike other brands which choose to associate themselves with one dominant colour, Hutchison felt an "unconventional approach was needed. It anticipated that 3 would be compared against entertainment options such as Playstation and X-Box in addition to rival telecom companies.
A secondary element of the identity is the Tristar, which will appear as a key on the handset to take users to content and as a subtle detail in packaging.
Yong said the titanium exterior represented all that is useful, while the fluid interior denoted the possibilities that 3G technology would offer. "It's cool on the outside, hot on the inside, she said, adding that the identity also echoed the tough outer shell of 3G handsets and the variety of information and entertainment the technology would offer.
The in-house design team was lead by global creative director Doug Hamilton.
In the mid-90s, Hamilton had worked on Hutchison's nascent 2G brand, Orange, when he was with UK branding consultancy Wolff Olins.
When word leaked out at mid-year that Hutchison had chosen a numeral as its brand name, critics charged that fast-paced technological improvements would quickly date the moniker. Others decried it as an insipid choice.
Hutchison defended its choice, saying 3 was chosen for its brevity and simplicity and was a name and logo that could travel across borders without the need for translation.
