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Play is the highest form of exploration. We partner with visionary teams to build brands that resonate deep into the future. #branding #brandstrategy
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Data visualization presented a different challenge. How to make charts and graphs that are technically rigorous and visually compelling without letting the design get in the way. We found a solution in a system spanning four visualization types: part-to-whole, distributions, geographic, and diagrams. Built to accommodate the same macro- and micro-levels of storytelling as the product UI. Tools like focus mode and a sliding color scale keep things consistent across any level of complexity. Allowing users to pivot from broad global trends and massive datasets to the most specific metric or stat. Ensuring every moment feels purposeful and unmistakably Stripe. Geography is everything for a company of Stripe’s scale. The dot map and 3D globe bring their global reach to life, from entire regions to single data points. The 3D globe renders the macro brand moment, while the dot map plots the micro performance across regions. They turn raw geographic data into something visceral. No matter the size. Each built to flex across contexts. Whether it's the tactical precision of a single checkout module or the broad ambition of a global footprint.
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5 days ago
Stripe's product UI is data-heavy. It has to be when you're building tools for developers and enterprise teams managing millions of transactions. We designed a UI system able to accommodate all that data at any scale without sacrificing clarity. We divided our system into two parts: screens and widgets. Full screens and layered UI would communicate larger product benefits, showing the global realities Stripe enables. Widgets told the smaller stories, spotlighting specific tools or features. We leaned into the details. Refining border radius, type scale, spacing, and color, we created a language capable of directing focus wherever the story required. ✿ PLAY TEAM ✿ Casey Martin, ECD @_casey_martin_ Owen Cramp, CD @owencramp Nic Dray, Managing Director @nicdray Marc Hill, Design Director @_marchill_ Jaime Patino-Calvo, Design Director @jaimepatinocalvo Sam Jones, Design Director @samtjones_ Nate Baltikas, Design Director @prettyripes Landry Miller, Design Director @laannndrryyy Bobby Dazzler, Motion Director @bobbydazzler___ Madison Bencomo, Program Director @maddibenco Rocío Delgado, Senior Program Manager @c_h_i_o___ Guy Hulse, Design Lead @guyhulse Huy Nguyen, Senior Designer @huy____ Ran Park, Senior Designer @ran_park_grafik Adrien Chevalier, Senior Designer @adrien__chevalier Kelly Ma, Designer @kellly_ma Danny Lian, Designer Ji Park, Designer @jipark0 Elise Garcia, Designer @elise.garciaa Yihuang Zhou, Designer @yihvang Larry Brown, Motion Designer Bojan Milinkovic, Motion Designer @bojanm.tv Xiaoxue Meng, Motion Designer @pandegcc David Schermer, Copywriter @cupofpizza Toby Causton-Ronaldson, 3D Designer @tcaustonr Stripe Team Michael Jeter, Head of Brand Studio @the_michael_jeter John Moon, Creative Director Olivia Chernoff, Executive Producer @olivechernoff Natalie Mellody, Brand Designer @natmellody Tanner Irwin, Brand Designer @tetoirwin
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9 days ago
Stripe revolutionized online commerce. Making it easy for businesses to accept payments from their customers. In the decade plus since its founding, Stripe has evolved into more than an indispensable payment tool. It’s become a sophisticated infrastructure that massive corporations run their entire financial operations on. With a landmark rebrand underway to reflect this identity shift, we were brought in to extend that vision into two critical systems: product UI and data visualization. Each would need to be built to match the scale and range of Stripe's role in today's business world. Able to tell stories of any size. From the macro vantage point of global infrastructure down to the micro level of a single data point. ✿ PLAY TEAM ✿ Casey Martin, ECD @_casey_martin_ Owen Cramp, CD @owencramp Nic Dray, Managing Director @nicdray Marc Hill, Design Director @_marchill_ Jaime Patino-Calvo, Design Director @jaimepatinocalvo Sam Jones, Design Director @samtjones_ Nate Baltikas, Design Director @prettyripes Landry Miller, Design Director @laannndrryyy Bobby Dazzler, Motion Director @bobbydazzler___ Madison Bencomo, Program Director @maddibenco Rocío Delgado, Senior Program Manager @c_h_i_o___ Guy Hulse, Design Lead @guyhulse Huy Nguyen, Senior Designer @huy____ Ran Park, Senior Designer @ran_park_grafik Adrien Chevalier, Senior Designer @adrien__chevalier Kelly Ma, Designer @kellly_ma Danny Lian, Designer Ji Park, Designer @jipark0 Elise Garcia, Designer @elise.garciaa Yihuang Zhou, Designer @yihvang Larry Brown, Motion Designer Bojan Milinkovic, Motion Designer @bojanm.tv Xiaoxue Meng, Motion Designer @pandegcc David Schermer, Copywriter @cupofpizza Toby Causton-Ronaldson, 3D Designer @tcaustonr Stripe Team Michael Jeter, Head of Brand Studio @the_michael_jeter John Moon, Creative Director Olivia Chernoff, Executive Producer @olivechernoff Natalie Mellody, Brand Designer @natmellody Tanner Irwin, Brand Designer @tetoirwin
450 11
11 days ago
Episode 20 explores the journey of Casey, founder of @play_sf , from aspiring athlete to leading a global design studio. Casey shares how persistence, curiosity, and hands-on learning shaped his path into the creative industry. From late nights formatting decks at Leo Burnett to building a 30-person studio spanning San Francisco, London, and beyond, the conversation reveals the realities of design, business, and growth. It highlights the value of embracing mistakes, rejecting perfectionism, and learning by doing. Honest and inspiring, the podcast offers insight into creativity, entrepreneurship, and building a modern, design-led studio. A massive thank you to Casey for taking the time to talk to me. /episode-20/ #graphicdesign #podcast #branding #founderjourney
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25 days ago
Kulturhaus is pulling away from the precision of Bauhaus modernism and landing somewhere a bit more modern. Designed by @play_sf , the California brewery’s visual identity fuses Bavarian tradition with West Coast warmth.⁠ ⁠ The typography skips the ornate script that’s common in the craft category and instead delivers carries a midcentury weight that feels at home next to the illustrated cans. ⁠ ⁠ Link in bio for the full article.
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27 days ago
LangChain’s clients exist across a wide spectrum of industries. We built their brand system to be fluid enough to flex to all kinds of audiences in all kinds of formats. From company swag to social media to OOH. Always reinforcing the brand idea that LangChain helps AI agents take flight. ✿ PLAY TEAM ✿ Casey Martin, ECD @_casey_martin_ Owen Cramp, CD @owencramp Nic Dray, Managing Director @nicdray Bobby Dazzler, Motion Director @bobbydazzler___ Diva Dimartini, Strategy Director @divadimartini David Schermer, Copywriter @cupofpizza Stian Rassmussen, Photographer @stian.world Aisling Flynn, Design Director aislingflynn Guy Hulse, Design Lead @guyhulse Nick Rissmeyer - Senior Designer @nickrissmeyer Ran Park, Senior Designer ran_park_grafik Dave Ottley, Designer @graphicworkmanstudio Elise Garcia, Designer @elise.garciaa Huy Nguyen, Designer @huy____ Sammy Al-Asmar, Designer @ibn.said Jolin Chen, Jr Designer @90x_x3 Larry Brown, Motion Designer Xiaoxue Meng, Motion Designer @pandegcc Bojan Milinkovic, Motion Designer @bojanm.tv Keira Danehy, Senior Producer @keirajdanehy Rose Pilkington, Digital Artist @rosepilky Toby Causton, 3D Designer @tcaustonr
290 5
2 months ago
The LangChain color palette and graphic language are both rooted in the brand idea of AI agents taking flight. The skylike shades of light and dark blue anchor the primary palette. The deeper tones reflect a preference for dark mode environments favored by engineers, while also lending the brand a sense of depth and sophistication. The warm plums and peaches in the expanded palette take cues from Silicon Valley sunsets. The greens nod to the coding life of an engineer. The system's graphic language is inspired by the murmuration patterns of birds and the pattern-based ways generative AI models process information. The system uses a mixture of lines and dots to visualize the live iteration process that is R&D. The movement of an idea from complex to simple. Taking its multiple threads and components and streamlining them into one. In digital environments and OOH, these tools work together to communicate the value of LangChain’s products. A brand that helps agents take flight. ✿ PLAY TEAM ✿ Casey Martin, ECD @_casey_martin_ Owen Cramp, CD @owencramp Nic Dray, Managing Director @nicdray Bobby Dazzler, Motion Director @bobbydazzler___ Diva Dimartini, Strategy Director @divadimartini David Schermer, Copywriter @cupofpizza Stian Rassmussen, Photographer @stian.world Aisling Flynn, Design Director aislingflynn Guy Hulse, Design Lead @guyhulse Nick Rissmeyer - Senior Designer @nickrissmeyer Ran Park, Senior Designer ran_park_grafik Dave Ottley, Designer @graphicworkmanstudio Elise Garcia, Designer @elise.garciaa Huy Nguyen, Designer @huy____ Sammy Al-Asmar, Designer @ibn.said Jolin Chen, Jr Designer @90x_x3 Larry Brown, Motion Designer Xiaoxue Meng, Motion Designer @pandegcc Bojan Milinkovic, Motion Designer @bojanm.tv Keira Danehy, Senior Producer @keirajdanehy Rose Pilkington, Digital Artist @rosepilky Toby Causton, 3D Designer @tcaustonr
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2 months ago
LangChain builds the AI frameworks and agent engineering platform that engineers at some of the world's biggest companies rely on to build and ship AI agents. Our redesign is built around the notion that LangChain is the iteration engine that allows agents to take flight. We updated their parrot logo to reflect that. Using circular, geometric forms with sharp edges and fluid arcs, we created an image of a soaring bird. Making uplift more than a metaphor. Literally building it into every curve. That circle became more than a logo. It became the foundation of a shared visual language across LangChain's entire product portfolio. A system where every icon, every form, every mark traces back to the same circular motif, the same sense of movement. A single step or node in a larger process, always in motion, always going somewhere. A cohesive design system that unites LangChain and its sub brands under one identity that speaks to the engineers who depend on it every day. ✿ PLAY TEAM ✿ Casey Martin, ECD @_casey_martin_ Owen Cramp, CD @owencramp Nic Dray, Managing Director @nicdray Bobby Dazzler, Motion Director @bobbydazzler___ Diva Dimartini, Strategy Director @divadimartini David Schermer, Copywriter @cupofpizza Stian Rassmussen, Photographer @stian.world Aisling Flynn, Design Director aislingflynn Guy Hulse, Design Lead @guyhulse Nick Rissmeyer - Senior Designer @nickrissmeyer Ran Park, Senior Designer ran_park_grafik Dave Ottley, Designer @graphicworkmanstudio Elise Garcia, Designer @elise.garciaa Huy Nguyen, Designer @huy____ Sammy Al-Asmar, Designer @ibn.said Jolin Chen, Jr Designer @90x_x3 Larry Brown, Motion Designer Xiaoxue Meng, Motion Designer @pandegcc Bojan Milinkovic, Motion Designer @bojanm.tv Keira Danehy, Senior Producer @keirajdanehy Rose Pilkington, Digital Artist @rosepilky Toby Causton, 3D Designer @tcaustonr
1,514 8
2 months ago
The Entire.io robot offers something rare in software: co-presence. A feeling that you’re not working alone. You’ve got an intelligent colleague right next to you. Building with you. The robot achieves this by reacting to whatever’s happening in the platform in real time. It celebrates when you’ve completed a successful build. It cringes when you’ve made an error. Using simple motions and postures instead of annoying popups and notifications, the robot never interrupts your flow. Clippy could never. ✿ PLAY TEAM ✿ Casey Martin, ECD @_casey_martin_ Owen Cramp, CD @owencramp Nic Dray, Managing Director @nicdray Sam Jones, Design Director @samtjones_ Bobby Dazzler, Motion Director @bobbydazzler___ Larry Brown, Motion Designer Bojan Milinkovic, Motion Designer @bojanm.tv Xiaoxue Meng, Motion Designer @pandegcc Guy Hulse, Design Lead @guyhulse Adrien Chevalier, Designer @adrien__chevalier Dave Ottley, Designer @graphicworkmanstudio Elise Garcia, Designer @elise.garciaa Jolin Chen, Jr Designer @90x_x3 Madison Bencomo, Sr Producer @maddibenco David Schermer, Copywriter @cupofpizza Rose Pilkington, Digital Artist @rosepilky
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3 months ago
A lot of logos just sit there. This one has a pulse. The Entire.io logo isn't a static mark. It's a living character that changes behavior based on what the product is doing. Thinking. Building. Debugging. Celebrating. The robot reflects real developer workflows in real time. Using personality, motion and expression, it turns abstract AI concepts into human-readable signals that developers instantly understand. This is how you create a human connection to AI: you give it a heartbeat. ✿ PLAY TEAM ✿ Casey Martin, ECD @_casey_martin_ Owen Cramp, CD @owencramp Nic Dray, Managing Director @nicdray Sam Jones, Design Director @samtjones_ Bobby Dazzler, Motion Director @bobbydazzler___ Larry Brown, Motion Designer Bojan Milinkovic, Motion Designer @bojanm.tv Xiaoxue Meng, Motion Designer @pandegcc Guy Hulse, Design Lead @guyhulse Adrien Chevalier, Designer @adrien__chevalier Dave Ottley, Designer @graphicworkmanstudio Elise Garcia, Designer @elise.garciaa Jolin Chen, Jr Designer @90x_x3 Madison Bencomo, Sr Producer @maddibenco David Schermer, Copywriter @cupofpizza Rose Pilkington, Digital Artist @rosepilky
536 4
3 months ago
When the CEO of GitHub goes off to start something new, you pay attention. It could just end up signaling the future of how developers and AI will work together. Entire.io is a developer-first AI platform where humans and AI agents can truly collaborate to build, learn and evolve together. It’s a vision that goes far beyond being simply a place to store code. We designed the Entire.io logo to humanize AI. So we gave the logomark a face. Then brought it to life as a mascot with an entire behavioral system of its own. A friendly robot that embodies the developer-first mindset. Making cutting-edge tech feel approachable and relatable. And less like impenetrable science fiction. Sometimes the best way to introduce the future is to make it smile back at you. ✿ PLAY TEAM ✿ Casey Martin, ECD @_casey_martin_ Owen Cramp, CD @owencramp Nic Dray, Managing Director @nicdray Sam Jones, Design Director @samtjones_ Bobby Dazzler, Motion Director @bobbydazzler___ Larry Brown, Motion Designer Bojan Milinkovic, Motion Designer @bojanm.tv Xiaoxue Meng, Motion Designer @pandegcc Guy Hulse, Design Lead @guyhulse Adrien Chevalier, Designer @adrien__chevalier Dave Ottley, Designer @graphicworkmanstudio Elise Garcia, Designer @elise.garciaa Jolin Chen, Jr Designer @90x_x3 Madison Bencomo, Sr Producer @maddibenco David Schermer, Copywriter @cupofpizza Rose Pilkington, Digital Artist @rosepilky
1,423 23
3 months ago
Enjoy a look at the whole @kulturhausbrewingcompany design system in action. From beverage cans to pickle jar labels. Drink coasters to brewery signage. And packing tape to social media posts to merch and community murals and more. All coming together like one joyful crowd in a beer hall called Kulturhaus. ✿ PLAY TEAM ✿ Casey Martin, ECD @_casey_martin_ Owen Cramp, CD @owencramp Nic Dray, Managing Director @nicdray Bobby Dazzler, Motion Director @bobbydazzler___ David Schermer, Copywriter @cupofpizza Eric Haines, Photographer @e.l.haines Huy Nguyen, Designer @huy____ Sammy Al-Asmar, Designer @ibn.said Xiaoxue Meng, Jr. Motion Designer @pandegcc Jaime Patino-Calvo, Sr. Interaction Designer @jaimepatinocalvo Cassie Ciccarelli, Sr. Designer @cassiecicc Larry Brown, Motion Designer Lindsay McMenamin, Ops Director @seeleyavenue Chandler Reed, Sr Designer @chandlerreed Ellis Latham-Brown, Design Director @ellislathambrown Kelly Scheurich, Design Director @kelly_scheurich Mason Peterson, Designer @mason_is_a_robot Kyle L. Beck, CD @kyleleebeck Rosie Bloom, DD @_rosiebloom Alex Webber, Sr. Designer @alexia__w Jason Frohlichstein, CD @frohlichstein Chao Wang @chaoooowang Claire Whitman, Sr. Designer @clairewangwhit Toby Causton, 3D Designer @tcaustonr Nic Claure, Designer @nicholasclaure Ray Ramirez, Art Director @rayramire Seth Lunsford, Sr. Designer @sethlunsford Mauro Bonillo, Sr. Designer @maurobonillo Graham Bradley, Type Designer @a.plus.type
116 3
3 months ago