Role
Brand Designer

Collaboration
CEO, Head of Design, Creative Director, Head of Marketing, Product Design, Motion Design

Deliverables
Logo, brand toolkit, product applications

Tools
Figma, Adobe Creative Suite

Philo Rebrand

Philo is a TV streaming startup, based in San Francisco, led by one of the Facebook founders, Andrew McCollum. It’s an underdog in the hard core streaming landscape and I was hired to work with the CEO and design team on leading the charge of the company's rebrand.

In crafting our brand identity, we recognize that it’s a reflection of our company's culture, values and voice. It also acts as the connective tissue between us and our audience that can forge a story and trust. So, from the outset, this rebrand effort demanded a deep understanding of our internal motivations and the individuals we aim to engage.

Drawing insights from discussions with stakeholders and colleagues across departments such as Support and Marketing, provided invaluable perspective on who’s on the other side of this dialogue. Central to our exploration was the commitment to nurturing our audience’s experience through a visual framework that resonates with care and authenticity. After all, the brand needs to care about people. Only then will people care about the brand. This process was iterative, and it entailed case studies of our market, and research on what comfort can visually translate to.

We’re aspiring for an experience that’s casual, clear, easy, simple, approachable, relaxing, accessible, and authentic.

Meanwhile, what that could look like in a logo form is boundless. We explored so many directions and visual treatments.

One pivotal voice in this journey was Andrew, whose vision underscored the necessity for our brand to present itself as a tool – a practical and unobtrusive identity that enhances rather than competes with the viewer experience and the content. This ethos, bold simplicity, laid the foundation for the bold yet unassuming visual treatment of our new logo.

At its core, our logo embodies simplicity and geometry, symbolizing stability and approachability. Yet, within its structure lie subtle elements of whimsy, delicately woven to add a touch of charm. The relaxed treatment of the letters 'p,' 'i,' and 'l' imparts a casual yet endearing personality to our logo, ensuring it remains etched in memory without imposing any singular ideologies or associations.

In essence, our logo is a versatile emblem of our warm culture, and our dedication to our audience and mission. It’s adaptable to diverse contexts. It can proudly shout when it needs to, and humbly hush when it needs to be silent. This is our new Philo.

Below, you can explore the various iterations of solutions to solve this rebrand and visual identity.

Final Direction
Time Traveler

Retro Futurism

Since the beginning, visual treatments vacillated between retro and modern. Retro, to speak to our historical reference to Philo Farnsworth, the inventor of television. Modern, to speak to our current relevance and future aspirations. Eventually, I asked why pick? We are Option C: All of the Above.

Philo speaks to both sides of the spectrum, the old and new. This narrative concept informs the graphic and type treatments in the rebrand, through a bold and minimalist aesthetic approach.