The archive · Brand & Identity · Strategic decision · 2022
B&B names Rita Ora's athleisure 'Humans Being' with a one-letter switch
A single letter — human beings to Humans Being — turns a category noun into an active, genderless community name for Rita Ora's sustainable athleisure brand.
Humans Being (Rita Ora) · B&B Studio
What it had to solve
Rita Ora was founding a sustainable athleisure offer, and London studio B&B had to create its brand positioning, visual identity and brand world — starting with the name — for an audience of like-minded, values-driven people.
How it works
Singer Rita Ora was entering the athleisure market with a sustainable, style-conscious offer, and London design studio B&B Studio was briefed to create its brand positioning, visual identity and brand world. The starting point was the name.
B&B's answer played on a phrase everyone knows: 'human beings'. Moving a single letter produced 'Humans Being' — a descriptive noun turned into an active and intriguing term, suggesting people engaged in the act of being human rather than a static category to be labelled.
The name was chosen for its ability to imply a universal, egalitarian and genderless community of engaged people, mirroring the values-driven audience the brand wanted to reach. From that one word, B&B developed the identity and brand world through which the launch would be presented.
Why it lands
- One letter is a surprise small enough to be charming, yet it forces a re-read that makes the name memorable.
- 'Being' turns a label into an activity — the audience is invited to participate in the brand rather than be classified by it.
- The universal, genderless reading matched both the sustainable positioning and the community of like-minded people it targeted.
- A single clever word gave the whole identity system a centre, so positioning, visuals and brand world could all grow from one idea.
What it did
The name did the strategic work: instead of a celebrity athleisure line, the brand presented itself as a universal, egalitarian and genderless community of engaged people — the one-letter twist made a values-driven audience feel named rather than sold to.
What you can take
A one-letter shift in a familiar phrase can carry a whole positioning: it makes people stop and decode the brand, and the name itself communicates community and values without a manifesto.
Since then
Humans Being launched online on 3 November 2022 with twelve garments in six colourways, and the one-letter name became the story around which the brand was covered and presented. The project was later archived by D&AD in its Writing for Design discipline, where the naming idea stands on its own as an example of brand writing.
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