Gluelabs

Opening

Onecliq was splitting its tape manufacturing into a standalone brand. New name, new logo, new identity — but a connection to the parent that needed to exist without being a dependency.

The naming came first. And the constraint I set for myself was simple: whatever we land on, it can't trap the brand in one product category.

Naming First

If this brand ever wanted to expand — adhesives, sealants, industrial bonding, anything in the joining-materials space — the name needed to hold that possibility. The research and development behind the product mattered too. This wasn't a commodity manufacturer. It had a lab mentality.

Different directions. Different frames. The one that kept holding up: Gluelabs.

It named the category without being enslaved to it. It implied precision and development. It had a directness that worked across the counter, the catalogue, and a business card.

Preliminary trademark research rated it well. Filed, registered within seven months. No challenges.

The Visual Problem

Counter visibility was the real design brief. Not the pitch deck, not the website — the moment the product sits on a shelf next to every competitor.

Ground-level research with the sales team. We looked at what the shelf actually looked like. What your eye lands on first. Where the current packaging disappeared and where it stood out.

The result: an identity that felt distinct at counter level, fresh without being loud, trustworthy without being boring.

Some elements of the Onecliq identity were retained — intentionally. The brand needed to feel like it belonged to the same family while standing on its own. That balance was the craft problem.

What I Actually Think About It

Naming is the most underrated design discipline because it looks like writing. It isn't. It's the most constrained design problem there is — you're working in one word, sometimes two, with trademark law on one side and competitor noise on the other. Getting it right requires the same systematic exploration as any visual brief. The Gluelabs process was rigorous. The result looked effortless. That's the point.