After being acquired by Square in February 2020, the decison was made to rebrand Dessa from an AI product firm to a “secret AI lab” that emphasizes the importance of creativity and imagination in machine learning work. The big challenge would be that as the sole creative on the Dessa team, I would be responsible for leading an executing every aspect of the rebrand.
First, I worked with my supervisor to come up with overall concepts and logos. We became inspired by Roald Dahl’s imaginative stories, and decided to position Dessa as the “Willy Wonka
of machine learning”. Since Dahl’s font style is imperfect and quirky, I hand drew the logo for a unique effect, including arrows to show our flexibility as a company. The leadership reviews were the moment I knew the project was going in the right direction. One comment from our CEO that stuck out was that the drafts made him “uncomfortable, but in a good way”. This inspired me to do a team survey to get additional feedback and ensure that other “Dessans” felt like they had a chance to contribute.
After the logo was developed, we rolled out the brand into guidelines, an asset library, our website and social media.
First, I worked with my supervisor to come up with overall concepts and logos. We became inspired by Roald Dahl’s imaginative stories, and decided to position Dessa as the “Willy Wonka
of machine learning”. Since Dahl’s font style is imperfect and quirky, I hand drew the logo for a unique effect, including arrows to show our flexibility as a company. The leadership reviews were the moment I knew the project was going in the right direction. One comment from our CEO that stuck out was that the drafts made him “uncomfortable, but in a good way”. This inspired me to do a team survey to get additional feedback and ensure that other “Dessans” felt like they had a chance to contribute.
After the logo was developed, we rolled out the brand into guidelines, an asset library, our website and social media.
