Tezza isn’t exactly a household name, but the influencer and entrepreneur Tessa Barton’s photo editing app has gained something a cult following among those who want their Instagram snaps to have that fashionable vintage look. Now the brand is hoping to expand with a rebrand that aims to match the coolness of the photos its users create.
The brand’s also venturing into other areas, including merchandise, like phone cases, collage kits, and, somewhat strangely, candles. It seems Tezza no longer wants to be just a fashionable photo app. It wants to be a fashion brand.
The new Tezza logo. And some cherries (Image credit: Tezza / Saint-Urbain)
The Tezza rebrand was overseen by Brooklyn-based Saint-Urbain and was clearly inspired by the industry Tezza wants to be part of, with shapes and typefaces influenced by fashion magazines and editorial layouts. The brand is keeping its existing face icon, which was created by Zhenya Runyzhuk, while the new wordmark’s sharp angles reflect the app’s square photo format and bright colours stand out amid all the black and beige to conveys a dose of playfulness.
(Image credit: Tezza / Saint-Urbain)
The overall impression is much warmer identity than that of many photo editing apps, putting the focus on art rather than tech. But as sleek as it looks, it could be difficult for a brand like Tezza to expand.
The freemium app is currently 40th in the App Store for photo and video and has mixed reviews. Like VSCO, it takes the same simple filter/preset-based approach to photo editing as Instagram and outputs images at sizes that make it suitable only for social media. Professional photo-editing software it is not.
Want some candles with your hip fashionista filter? (Image credit: Tezza / Saint-Urbain)
Tezza’s managed to get a following by taking cues from fashion itself, creating filters that help users get the on-trend look of the moment quickly and easily, but the appeal of that is limited and will require Tezza to keep up with quickly changing trends. The expansion into merchandise is intriguing, but I’m not convinced that selling candles will help bring new users to a photo app.
