Discord - Brand Refresh

Role
Creative Direction
Art Direction

Year
2024

Most of my 2024 was spent leading phase two of Discord's brand refresh. The work, while kicked off with a first phase refresh, constituted a reevaluation of all core and sub-brand elements. The scale of this project meant pretty much every team at Discord was involved in some way.
I led this phase from the onset by determining scope, writing initial briefs, finding all partners, directing the studios, leading rounds of feedback with stakeholders, and communicating all changes out to the rest of the company.
This work started late in 2023 when Discord shifted it's focus back to gaming. We needed a visual brand that matched this new direction quickly. To get this started, a team put together a new homepage while I was out on leave. This page helped guide some of what we wanted to do for the brand but the work didn't constitute a coherent brand system and introduced many issues.

Phase 1 brand refresh

When I came back from leave we started the next phase of the refresh. The goals we defined were to:
- Age up the brand
- Dial up the gaming vibes to align with current strategy
- Address newly introduced and long standing issues with the brand
- Create a coherent brand system that can scale over time
Given the size of our team, there was no way we could accomplish this project in-house. Previous attempts at a brand refresh relied heavily on "full service" agencies but this time around I advocated that we work with design studios that specialized in the kind of work we needed.
After meeting the team at PORTO ROCHA, they were the clear choice to build this new brand system. Their team brought incredible ideas, an understanding of our audience, an outstanding dedication to craft, and conviction that helped push the brand toward the best possible outcome. After defining the visual identity and building brand guidelines, we worked with Porto Rocha to build out a suite of brand assets such as a refreshed .com, deck templates, and more.
We needed tons of additional 2D/3D illustration so we brought on a host of specialized partners such as Moth Studio, Rocketpanda, and freelance talent to help us build out all the brand assets we needed. Discord's product creative team also jumped in to define a new 2D illustration style for the core brand.
After 9 months of work, we wrapped up this phase of the refresh with the launch of our full brand guidelines, in both Figma and Corebook, as well as a library of templates and assets ready for use in 2025. Keep an eye out for the work as it rolls out across all channels throughout the year.
Discord Credits
Creative Director - Joshua Jouppi
Brand Designer - David Hernandez
Producer - Jolly Banerjee
Head of Brand - Ted Jarbo
Web Marketing Manager - Charlie Cameron
Design Systems Lead - Linzi Berry
Production Credits
Brand Design Partner - Porto Rocha
3D and 2D Illustration - Moth/Hornet
2D Illustration - Rocket Panda
2D/3D Illustration - Justin Lemmon
2D Design - Scott Biersack