To say we’re hyped about this would be an understatement. When we heard that this company was going to be called Cowboy Space Corp our jaws dropped to the floor. This was a project designed for the S&D team. @tullyryanstudio worked so hard to develop a symbol that felt so effortless, perfectly straddling timelessness and futurism.
Then we paired that with type and color that nodded towards the vintage aesthetic without relying on it too heavily as a crutch. We had fun developing the type and color to have some odd pairings that really help stand out from the typical space crowd.
Can’t wait to see this thing getting blasted at thousands of miles per hour into the atmosphere!
You can read and see more in our case study at the link in our bio.
🚀 NEW WORK FOR COWBOY SPACE CORP 🚀
Cowboy Space Corp. is getting ahead of the AI energy crunch by sending solar‑panel‑saddled rockets into low Earth orbit. They needed a wild brand to match a wild idea, and we had the time of our lives working on it. Our work… on a rocket… in space. No way.
Truly a pinch‑me moment. Me, @tullyryanstudio , @dayandaniello , and @calebsun.co poured our hearts into this one.
The symbol: a spur that’s not too yee‑haw, just a little hat tip, and if you look closer there’s also a sun rising over Earth’s horizon with energy flowing back and forth.
The type: we picked Panell by @xyz_displaay for the wordmark, the perfect balance of hardworking and future‑feeling, then layered a borderline irresponsible amount of type on top.
The color: we pushed past the usual “space” palette into something Earthy and dusty with just a hint of space.
The art direction: the Cowboy Space crew came in with a strong illustration vision, and since the launch was fast we tapped Flora AI to develop some dope illustrations. I’m actively looking for an illustrator who can draw like this, so HMU if that’s you. Also shoutout to @ajaxcreative_ for the amazing launch video.
This is a wildly simplified take on all the work that went into this brand. Be sure to read the full case study and see more pics at the link in bio.
Thanks for looking!
We couldn’t help ourselves after seeing all of the @logoarchive (@logoarchive.now ) posts going around. I wanted to put together one for our team. I had so much fun digging up logos that I had completely forgotten about. Super proud of the range that this team is capable of.
@not_winter , @dayandaniello , (sadly all of @tullyryanstudio ’s logos are under NDA at the moment but we’ve got a good one dropping next week)
💎 The 2025 Smith & Diction Year in Review is here 💎
This past year was a wild year to say the least. We left it all out on the field, podcasts, public speaking, huge projects, tiny sprints. We grew the team and we pushed ourselves harder than I thought possible.
Click the link in our bio to read the full thing! All kinds of fun BTS things in there.
See ya in 2026!!
The @superhuman__hq brand goes way deeper than just a cool little bud.
🟣 Wordmark:
Now we needed a wordmark to match the power of the symbol. @Superhuman Mail already had some great equity in their elegant tracked out logo so we built on that. We updated the typeface with an A that felt cape-like and customized the P+R to have some forward momentum.
🟣 Custom Typography:
Since this is a digital first product, we knew we needed to get the type just right.
We got a custom cut of the Messina superfamily by Luzi Type aptly renamed to Super Sans, Super Serif, & Super Mono for use across all the different platforms. We rounded the punctuation and the tittles of the letters and it was the perfect touch to make it feel a little bit more ownable and friendly. And the Serif is just an absolute swashy stunner as is. They are best used interchangeably in the same paragraph.
🟣 Custom Icons:
The @superhuman__hq team worked with Helena Zhang (@minor.axis ) to build out a massive set of over 500 custom icons. She referenced all the details of the full logo—not only Hero’s cursor, but also the dot, the outside squircle, the angles, the corners, and the roundness-meets-chunkiness of the Superhuman wordmark. Then she turned it into a complete system that balances soft and sharp elements to create a precise, yet human feeling that can extend across the entire icon library.
🟣 Brand Moves:
We also made some brand moves that put the “art of the process” front & center. We wanted to make some brand art that wasn’t just like “Emails. Faster.” So instead we did way too much. You’ll have to read the case study to get the full picture on this.
This is just the beginning of what’s in store for the @superhuman__hq brand. For everything you see here there were 400 versions that didn’t make the cut. It was a labor of love & I’m proud of both teams for giving their all.
Huge shout out to my entire team for their amazing work on this monster of a project: @charamelody , @not_winter , @dayandaniello , @tullyryanstudio , @calebsdesign .
And to all the folks that helped us along the way!
@justinlawes , @uprighttrexmusic , @gavinpotenza , @brentclouse
Introducing Hero, the new logo/mascot for @superhuman__hq (@grammarly & @coda_hq )
➤ Digital tool, digital shapes – We used this cursor shape (which also represents a cape) and put a dot on top of it to turn it into a superhero icon that ties directly into the Superhuman name.
👁️ It’s my favorite thing when a logo has a see-say-abilty when it’s next to the name. You look at the logo and you look at the name and say, yeah…that’s a superhuman.
🪱 Not many people tell you about the can of worms that opens up when you design a mascot logo that can spin and transform into endless objects.
✏️ Hero can show thinking, writing, listening, and attention states. Hero can also become a pen, a picture, a paper airplane, a clock, you name it. With these two shapes Hero, can become just about anything. It can even wave!
We designed this mascot with motion in mind from the jump. We called in @justinlawes to animate our initial presentation, because we knew that the client needed to see this in motion to see the potential. Since we all live with tiny TVs in our pockets, I feel like more and more logos we make will have motion considered from the earliest concept phase.
We’ve been working with Justin to develop all kinds of different attributes for this character and we’re just showing the tip of the iceberg here.
🔗 Read the full case study at the link in our bio!
NEW WORK FOR @superhuman__hq , @grammarly , & @coda_hq
It’s a cursor, it’s a cape, it’s an incredibly complex identity system!
So your company acquires another company and now you’re changing your name to the smaller company.
Let’s dig in.
🟣 The new logo is a superhuman character made out of a cursor (also a cape) and a dot for the head.
🟣 The logo was designed with motion in mind from the very beginning. It can spin and flip but also morph into thinking, listening, and attention states. The possibilities for character design are endless, just with these two shapes. (Very excited to show more of this soon.)
🟣 We developed a completely custom superfamily type system in collaboration with Luzi Type, aptly named Super Sans, Super Serif, & Super Mono. Super Sans was the perfect fit for product moments across the many different canvases and platforms, while Super Serif provides a beautiful writerly tone that brings some warmth and elegance to the digital environment.
🟣 The color palette leans into a deep and heartfelt maroon paired with a powerful purpley mysteria, to create a combo that feels both super and human.
🟣 The new brand is the start of a new chapter for @grammarly , @coda_hq , & @superhuman__hq as they create a totally new kind of AI-native workspace.
Motion design: @justinlawes
Music + SFX: @uprighttrexmusic
🔗 You can read the full case study at the link in our bio!
I've always been so jealous of design studios that had super cool reels with all their insane work flashing by to get you hyped up.
Now...10 years in...
We finally have our own studio reel. Hopefully it gets you amped to make stuff!
Thanks to @jdashscott for his amazing animation work on this and also to @uprighttrexmusic for their funky music, which I absolutely love. And thanks to @simon_letters for this S&D wordmark that I'll cherish until the end of time.
Play with the sound ON 🔊
Earlier this year we got a call from the folks at @contra aasking if we’d help out with their visual identity. We were like, “Your brand is pretty dope as is. I don’t think you need us.”
But once we talked to Ben Huffman & @erin.n.horner about their vision I was sold. This platform has the ability to help so many designers. We needed to be a part of this. So we got to work.
They loved their current symbol+wordmark combo but we said, can you let us update it justtttt a little bit?? We just wanted to update it so it could be a little more screen friendly. We put a lot of love into the curve of that lowercase “a”.
We also introduced GT Standard (@grillitype ) as an inter replacement. We just loved that the lowercase a’s matched the wordmark. And it was an incredibly diverse family with some insanely condensed versions baked into it which are great for social.
Funny story, the main thing we were actually hired to do was strategy. We chipped away at all kinds of different approaches. Tried every way in. It eventually all came down to ONE line...
Get more creative.
It felt absolutely perfect for what they were building. Supporting the creative community AND helping teams grow their creative depts. All through getting more creative. We presented just the one line (with a little bit of jazz hands) and crossed our fingers. They absolutely understood the vision and have been building with it at their core for the past year.
Strategy: @charamelody
Art direction: @mikesmith + @charamelody
Lead design: @not_winter
Wordmark: @not_winter + @dayandaniello
Design support: @rinker
Icons: @tullyryanstudio
Season 6 isn’t over yet!
In this bonus episode, we go inside the Philadelphia-based studio Smith & Diction with co-founders Chara and Mike Smith. Known for breaking agency norms, they’ve built a reputation by sharing their process and work-in-progress design files publicly. Is sharing their secret sauce… actually their secret sauce?
Listen to A Change of Brand on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you enjoy podcasts!
This episode is sponsored by @futurelondonacademy .
this is the best winery branding i’ve ever seen: @livingrootswine by @smith_diction .
it starts with a thoughtful logo update made up of grapes, adelaide hills, finger lakes, and roots—forming an extensive logo and icon system, which is pretty remarkable already…
but it gets even better in the applications: with the icon system used as a pattern, decoration, inline with type, and individually; a wine-loving sasquatch mascot made of grape leaf fur who shows up in all the right places; and a label design system with a different soil profile and rock shape per wine variety—all steeped in hundreds of years of winemaking history.
overall, this isn’t just a new logo but an incredible brand experience from website to tasting room to bottles and more—incredible work by smith & diction who only put out BANGERS!
A few years ago we made our process document public and the number one question we got was – WHAT THE HECK ARE MOVES??
Making Moves is our attempt to answer that question. @charamelody and @mikesmith are hopping on a call with @future_spaces to go over our favorite moves and how we approach them.
Catch the live convo on Thursday, Sept 25th at 2pm ET (11am PT)
RSVP at the link in our bio.
