LogoDecks™

Meet the Type Designer Who Made Affinity’s Signature Mark Feel Human Again. Rob Clarke is a specialist British type designer and lettering artist who was commissioned to craft the symbol and logotype for the Affinity rebrand following its acquisition by Canva. His primary contribution was the creation of the signature lowercase "a" mark, designed to be "wonky and approachable" while blending fluid, organic curves with technical precision. This mark was intended to represent the dynamic creativity and flexibility of the artists, illustrators, and graphic designers who use the software. The development of the new identity was a highly collaborative effort directed by the Canva creative team and independent design studio Twist. Key contributors to the project included Tom Carey (Canva), who provided creative direction, and the type foundry Ohno Type Company, which developed a distinctive, offbeat custom typeface to complement Clarke’s symbol. Other partners included James Martin (known as Made by James), who created a suite of playful graphic assets, and the studio Man vs Machine, which handled the launch campaign animation. This diverse team worked together to move the brand away from traditional, rigid software aesthetics toward a "punk at heart" identity that celebrates creative freedom. #logodecks

The 2014 Airbnb rebrand by British designers Paul Stafford and Ben Wright remains a landmark in modern identity design. Moving away from the company’s original blue script, the co-founders introduced the "Bélo" a minimalist symbol intended to represent "belonging." To capture the brand's soul, the duo embedded their team at Airbnb’s headquarters and sent designers to stay with hosts across four continents. The resulting logo is a geometric synthesis of four icons: a head for people, a location pin for places, an inverted heart for love, and the letter ‘A’. However, the launch was immediately met with controversy over its striking similarity to the 1975 logo for the Azuma Drive-In, designed by Akisato Ueda. While critics pointed out the near-identical looping line work found in vintage design archives, Paul and Ben maintained the shape was a logical evolution of their "people, places, love" concept. #logodecks

The Man Behind Grok’s New Face – Jon Vio and the Black Hole That Swallowed the Old Logo. Jon Vio, a digital artist and multi-planetary identity designer, created the new Grok logo in early 2025. The sleek black-and-white mark centers on a stylized "G" formed by a luminous accretion disk, embodying the concept of singularity and drawing inspiration from the mystery and immense power of a black hole, echoing cinematic visuals like Gargantua from Interstellar. Vio collaborated closely with the xAI team, whose input shaped key cosmic elements, and credited his friend Ebby Amir for trust and support in the opportunity. The result is a minimalist yet dynamic identity that aligns with Grok's mission to understand the universe, replacing prior versions with a more profound, living symbol of infinite potential and deep exploration. #logodecks @jondotvio @grok @elonmusk

Jaguar’s Radical Rebrand: Visionary Move or Costly Mistake Gerry McGovern is a British automotive designer who served as Chief Creative Officer at Jaguar Land Rover. He became widely known for shaping the modern look of Land Rover and Range Rover vehicles and later led the creative reinvention of Jaguar. In 2024 he introduced a controversial new Jaguar logo and brand identity with a softer typeface and redesigned mascot, launched alongside the “Copy Nothing” campaign. The rebrand aimed to reposition Jaguar as an all-electric luxury brand, but it sparked debate online because early promotional videos focused on abstract imagery rather than cars, dividing fans and critics. #logodecks

Kenjiro Sano, a prominent Japanese graphic designer, found himself at the centre of an international scandal following the unveiling of his logo for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Revealed in July 2015, his design featured a minimalist, geometric "T" meant to represent "Tokyo."

Burton Kramer’s 1974 redesign of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation logo stands as a masterwork of Canadian Modernism. Known as the "gem," the logo features a central red circle representing the source of broadcasting, surrounded by radiating geometric segments.

Michael Bierut, a partner at the design powerhouse Pentagram, led the 2019 overhaul of Slack’s visual identity. Moving away from the original "plaid" hashtag, which many found charming but technically flawed, Bierut introduced a cleaner "octothorpe."

Susan Kare is the visionary graphic designer who humanised personal computing through her work on the original Apple Macintosh. Using a grid of pixels as her canvas, she crafted a visual language that replaced complex code with intuitive, whimsical metaphors.

In 1981, typographer Gerard Huerta was tasked with refining the HBO wordmark to better suit a burgeoning cable television landscape. Building upon Betty Brugger’s 1975 concept, Huerta focused on mathematical precision and visual weight.

Dean Perry Wessel, an American commercial artist, is the creative mind behind the Chicago Bulls’ legendary logo. In 1966, team founder Dick Klein approached Wessel, a personal friend and neighbour, to design an emblem that captured the spirit of a powerhouse.

Brazilian designer Fred Gelli, founder of Tátil Design, captured the soul of Rio in the 2016 Olympic logo. Conceived while Gelli was swimming at Ipanema Beach, the emblem features three fluid figures joined in a "warm embrace."

Miles Newlyn, a master of modern typography, led the 2020 refinement of the McLaren Group’s visual identity. Rather than a total overhaul, Newlyn focused on "lightness and speed," subtly re-engineering the wordmark to feel more agile and digital-ready.

Milton Glaser was an influential American graphic designer best known for creating the iconic I ♥ NY logo in 1977. Commissioned during a time when New York City was struggling with crime and financial decline, Glaser sketched the design in red crayon on a scrap of paper.

In 2005, Alexis Ohanian created Snoo, Reddit’s iconic alien mascot, as a simple doodle during university. Digitised later, its minimalist design, round head, antenna, and red eyes gave the platform a friendly identity and helped shape its early community-driven brand.

Graphic designer Gerry Barney led Guinness’s 1968 logo redesign, simplifying the harp into a bold, scalable silhouette. By reducing detail and refining its geometry, he created a modern “Gold Harp” that preserved heritage while meeting the demands of contemporary printing.

Beyond the Horn: The Mathematical Secret Inside the LA Rams Logo Sean Butterly, a Global Design Director at Nike, was a primary architect behind the Los Angeles Rams' 2020 visual identity, leading technical execution within the Nike Graphic Identity Group.

The Matterhorn’s Secret: How One Designer Hid a Bear in Plain Sight. In 1990, British illustrator Andrew Davidson designed the Toblerone identity, creating one of the most celebrated examples of "hidden" graphic design.

The Logo Turning Letters Into a Piggy Bank. Karol Śliwka created 400 logos, including PKO Bank Polski’s 1968 design, merging P, K, and O into a piggy bank. Initially rejected, it won a 1969 gold medal, becoming an iconic symbol.

Japanese designer Kenya Hara supervised Yamato Transport’s 2021 logo refinement. The 1957 Kuroneko symbol, a mother cat carrying a kitten, represents care. Subtle updates improved clarity, consistency, and digital usability while preserving its trusted, culturally iconic design

Robert Perine’s most significant contribution to Fender’s visual evolution was the creation of the "transition" logo in the early 1960s. Seeking to modernise the brand, he replaced the thin "spaghetti" script with a bolder, gold-leaf font outlined in black.