Branding Perplexity.ai: Creating an Invisible Brand

As a brand strategist, I had the opportunity to work with Perplexity, a search engine that blasts through the internet at incredible speeds and summarizes findings in concise and digestible language. The founders, Henry and Phi, had a unique vision for their brand: to create an invisible brand that felt like a Scandinavian subway system - clean, considered, and subtle, with no flash, modernity, or youthfulness.

At Smith & Diction, we're known for creating wiggly logos with weird mascots, but Henry and Phi were looking for something entirely different. We were thrilled to take on the challenge and create a brand that would feel like a vessel for facts, with no distractions.

The Symbol

Our first task was to redesign the symbol, which would become the core of the brand. We wanted to create something simple yet distinctive, with layers of depth. Perplexity is a search engine that cites all its sources, so we drew inspiration from the asterisk, symbolizing citation. We added depth to the symbol, which created a revolving door or rolodex effect, reminiscent of an open book. When we saw it animate, we knew we had "The One."

Wordmark

Next, we turned our attention to the wordmark. We chose a grotesk font with just the right amount of character, FK Display, which would become the perfect blend of simplicity and personality. The cuts on the edges of the "X" matched the points of the symbol, while the softness of the p, t, and y nods to a bygone era of printed phonebooks and encyclopedias.

Typography

As 99% of Perplexity's product is text, we needed to find a typeface that was both easy to read and works globally. We chose FK Grotesk for the brand, which fits the Scandi subway vibe perfectly. It has a large family with beautiful alternates and works in multiple languages. We also used FK Grotesk Neue for body copy, with its clean lines and improved legibility.

Color & Product

Colors needed to be almost invisible, so we developed a palette of dark mode and light mode with an accent for buttons. We built mockups of the product to see how often we'd be using color, and we found it would be mostly limited to links. The team wanted to elevate the traditional blue hue without seeming too flash or DTC. We finalized the palette by incorporating warm tones to bring the brand out of the tech territory.

UI Design

As we delved deeper into uniting the brand with the product, we developed a collapsible nav idea that would simplify the user experience. Perplexity implemented this idea in under a week, demonstrating their commitment to innovative design.

Brand Elements

When building brand elements, we considered the surprise and delight moments users might experience interacting with the brand outside of the product. We created a grid system for marketing materials and pitch decks, opting for slanted cuts and bringing motion into the mix. We produced beautiful posters and a booklet that's easy on the eyes, while embracing the anti-style concept for icons and patterns.