01

Discord

2024

In late 2023, Discord shifted its focus back to gaming. While a quick initial sprint got a new homepage out the door, it left us with a fragmented visual identity and some messy design debt. I stepped in to lead a full refresh of the brand with a clear set of goals:

  • Age up the brand.

  • Dial up the gaming vibes to match our new strategy.

  • Fix newly introduced and long-standing design issues.

  • Build a coherent, scalable brand system.

The Approach

With a lean in-house team, we needed backup. Past rebrands relied heavily on "full-service" agencies, but I pushed us to partner with specialized design studios instead. I led the charge from day one, figuring out the scope, writing the briefs, hunting down the right partners, directing the studios, heading up rounds of feedback, and making sure the rest of the company knew what was going on.

Client:

Discord

Date:

2024

Role:

Creative Direction

Creative Direction

Strategy

Strategy

Art Direction

Art Direction

PARTNERS:

PORTO ROCHA

PORTO ROCHA

MOTH/HORNET

MOTH/HORNET

ROCKET PANDA

ROCKET PANDA

Visual Identity

We brought on PORTO ROCHA, who delivered incredible ideas, a deep dedication to craft, and the conviction to push the brand where it needed to go. Together, we nailed down the visual identity, built the guidelines, and cranked out core assets like a refreshed website and deck templates.

Illustration

We needed tons of 2D and 3D illustration, so we brought on specialized partners like Moth Studio, Rocketpanda, and killer freelance talent to build out our massive asset library. Discord's product creative team also jumped in to help us lock down a fresh 2D illustration style for the core brand.

The Result

After 9 months of hard work, we wrapped this phase by launching our full brand guidelines (in both Figma and Corebook), plus a massive library of templates and assets ready to roll out across all channels in 2025.

In-House 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

Creative Direction - PORTO ROCHA

Brand Design - PORTO ROCHA

3D Illustration - PORTO ROCHA

3D and 2D Character Illustration - Moth/Hornet

2D Character Illustration - Rocket Panda

2D/3D Illustration - Justin Lemmon

Additional Design Support - Scott Biersack