While much of the buzz has been around Jaguar's rebranding, we’ve rounded up some other notable rebrands from 2024 that deserve attention. Here are four major tech company rebrandings from this year and the insights—and critics—behind their transformations. Learn about brand strategy, UI systems, brand messaging, and more.
- Figma: Revamping brand and UI
- Bumble: Relaunch, revise, redo
- PayPal: Boring? No, just simple
- AstrumU: More tech but more human
- Docusign: A complete reset
Figma: Revamping brand and UI
Figmas rebranding comes after the failed deal with Adobe last year. They got back to feet soon, introducing tools like Figma slides and new Gen-AI tools. In July, they introduced a new UI design with changes on the side panel, top control panel, and the design system. In September, they launched their brand refresh, with an expanded color palette, their own bespoke typeface, and a generally more playful, whimsical, and bold appearance—realized by their in-house team.
The new visual identity was received with positive feedback across the design community. Damian Bello, Designer at The Branx, highlights:
"Figma's redesign is an example of how innovation can simplify complexity, connecting creativity and technology to empower teams to design without limits."
A bold and playful visual identity
Figma’s new brand identity expanded its visual language, showcasing a broader color palette and its own bespoke typeface.
- They introduced Grilli Type, Figma Sans for their wordmark and primary typeface: Clean and sleek, it is a counterpart to its otherwise colorful brand.
- The expanded color palette reflects the diversity of Figma’s global community and the multiverse of its tools. While retaining its signature purple, the brand now includes bold primaries, bright neons, and muted earthy tones, offering a rich spectrum of options to reflect its users’ creativity.
- The tech company also revamped its illustrative style and iconography, aiming to create a visual language that evolves alongside the brand.
- Motion plays a crucial role in Figma’s brand refresh. Core movements like selection, activation, and transformation animate the illustrations, symbolizing the interactivity and decision-making process inherent in design work.
The in-house design team emphasized the importance of flexibility, stating:
“Enduring visual identities should be thought of as languages, not systems.”
To this end, they developed fundamental brand shapes—blobs, schematic forms, and jumbo vector elements—that embody the humans behind the designs. These shapes are bold, oversized, and characterized by vibrant color, communicating inclusivity and creativity.
Mixed reactions
While the design community's feedback on the new brand identity was positive, the same cannot be said about its UI13 update. The main feeling is that it has lost its intuitiveness (by moving the top control panel down) by the reorganization of bars and tools. Across forums many have expressed a preference for the old UI—and the good news is that it is possible: In a design file, click the button with the question mark in the lower right corner. Simply choose “Go back to old UI” and it will change back to UI12.
Interestingly, within our own team, 3 out of 8 regular Figma users chose keep using the old UI, citing its smoother user experience.
Bumble: Relaunch, reflect, redo
One of the most notable tech rebrands this year comes from the dating scene. Alongside introducing new app features, Bumble—the dating app launched as the “feminist Tinder” in 2014—used this opportunity to refresh its image. Under the slogan, “We’ve changed so you don’t have to,” Bumble integrated new features into its product relaunch, accompanied by a bold rebranding campaign.
Bumble has long been recognized as the platform where women make the first move, thanks to its in-app requirement. However, feedback revealed that many women felt burdened by this expectation. So, Bumble did its homework and introduced a new feature allowing women to pre-set an opening question that matches could answer—an attempt to ease the pressure while maintaining their female-forward ethos. So far, so good.
The controversial campaign
The refreshed brand identity debuted alongside an "anti-celibacy" advertising campaign, marked by provocative billboards, taglines, and a divisive video. The campaign video featured a woman attempting to swear off dating and become a nun—only to succumb to temptation after meeting a convent gardener, ultimately downloading Bumble. A prominent billboard proclaimed: “You know full well a vow of celibacy is not the answer.”
The backlash was severe. Social media users, particularly from Gen Z, criticized the campaign for appearing to shame those who choose not to date—a sentiment gaining traction globally. This misstep came at a time when dating apps were already facing declining user numbers and reports of increasingly negative experiences. Rather than acknowledging a shift toward offline, organic connections as a response to digital dating fatigue, Bumble’s campaign went in the opposite direction. Critics argued that it signaled a regression from empowering women to suggesting that life without dating was undesirable.
The widespread criticism prompted Bumble to issue an apology and remove the celibacy-related ads. In a statement on Instagram, the company clarified its intention to bring “joy and humor” but admitted that the execution fell short. This misfire underscored the importance of aligning campaign messaging with audience sentiment, especially for a brand built on empowering women.
The new visual identity
With the new campaign, Bumble also unveiled a revamped visual identity. While the iconic black-and-yellow color scheme remained intact, the logo underwent significant changes.
The original honeycomb icon was simplified into four clean lines, removing the background for a more refined and professional appearance. This design shift, paired with the transition from a lowercase to an uppercase “B,” marked a move toward a more sophisticated and mature brand image.
These updates reflect Bumble's desire to appeal to a broader audience while retaining its signature cheerful yellow, which conveys happiness. The new visual elements—combined with a modernized typeface—offer a polished yet approachable aesthetic.
Course correction in messaging
Following the failed campaign, Bumble did a 180-degree turn in its messaging. Recent Instagram posts, for example, humorously suggest that instead of seeking someone to cuddle with during winter, a cozy blanket is sufficient.
At the same time, the company continues to emphasize its core slogan: “Women first, always.” Bumble’s visuals consistently portray happy, confident women—whether single or partnered. This messaging challenges traditional heterosexual dating norms while striking a balance between empowerment and playfulness. This flair relates to the signature yellow, a color related to happiness. Across these visuals, the updated black and uppercase typeface brings a hint of seriousness to the visuals, in line with the revamped, less playful wordmark and isotype.
Key takeaways
In a Bynder study, 42% of marketers state that communicating the rebrand to the audience is one of the major challenges. This is more than true for Bumble. Its rebranding efforts reveal a mixed bag of successes and challenges. While the visual refresh succeeded in elevating the brand's aesthetic, the campaign failed to adequately address user concerns or reflect broader shifts in dating culture. The misaligned messaging necessitated a complete reset, underscoring the need for deeper research and better alignment with audience values.
PayPal: Boring? No, just simple
Despite undergoing a rebrand just two years ago, PayPal has introduced another significant transformation in 2024. While the 2022 updates were subtle and largely unnoticeable to users, this year’s overhaul—crafted by Pentagram—delivers a bold and intentional shift in the brand’s identity.
Simplifying Fintech
The primary goal of this rebranding was to “reflect and bolden the simplicity” PayPal brings to its users’ financial lives, supported by sophisticated technology. While some critics have dismissed the new design as “boring,” the updated identity underscores simplicity as a strength, not a shortcoming.
The changes are most evident in the logo’s evolution and in the use of color.
- PayPal has shifted from a unified logomark (combining the wordmark and isotype) to a more modular approach, where the elements function independently. This newfound flexibility enables creative applications across different mediums while maintaining brand coherence.
- In the wordmark, the signature blue letters have been replaced with a sleek black-and-white palette, exuding sophistication and authority.
- The familiar Fintech blues remain, but they now serve as accent colors and are prominently featured in the redesigned overlapping “P” monogram.
- The monogram itself has been modernized with sharper lines and calibrated colors, creating a sense of depth and dimension for a more contemporary aesthetic.
A trusted and authoritative brand
The new visual identity embodies straightforwardness, boldness, and authority—qualities essential for a leading Fintech brand. This aligns with consumer priorities: according to a 2023 Edelman study, 73% of respondents value brands that communicate safety and security. Trust, especially in the financial sector, directly impacts customer behavior: 59% of consumers are more likely to purchase from trusted brands, and 67% remain loyal or advocate for them.
Especially in Fintech branding trust is important: Users need to feel confident that their personal information is in safe hands. A trustworthy brand communicates reliability in its practices. PayPal’s rebranding leverages this sentiment, crafting an image that prioritizes trustworthiness while embracing a more minimalist and authoritative design.
AstrumU: More tech but more human
One of the major rebrandings in the HR tech market this year was launched by AstrumU. Known for its AI-powered platform that creates personalized skill profiles by mapping educational backgrounds and job experiences, the startup AstrumU set out to refresh its brand. The result is a completely new look—from the logo and colors to brand shapes and messaging—that feels tech-savvy, dynamic, and focused on its users.
A simpler messaging strategy
The goal was to humanize a tech product while communicating its benefits to the target audience. Complex AI software needed to be communicated in a way that everyone could understand: This was made possible by streamlining messaging on a visual and verbal level and by “giving AstrumU the tools to further simplify their marketing efforts on our own”, states Kara Rodriguez, Marketing Manager at AstrumU. The rebranding, realized by the startup branding agency The Branx, focused on creating a balance between the technology’s complexity and a clear, human-centric approach.
Putting the individual first
Across the new branding for the startup, the individual is prioritized, making the brand more human and accessible.
- The logo was completely redesigned, with a focus on the correct pronunciation of the company name. Previously, the visual focus lay on the A; now, there is a balance between “astrum” and “u” with a sparkle separating them. This puts the “u”, the individual, in the center. Additionally, the sparkle references the platform's AI-driven foundation. It is used as the signature element of the tech brand's new visual identity, symbolizing the idea of guiding stars.
- The updated color palette reflects AstrumU’s innovative and optimistic outlook, led by a bold Lime tone that stands for energy and progress. Softer complementary tones like Soft Lime add a fresh, approachable feel.
- The illustrations mix geometric and hand-drawn elements, creating a sense of authenticity that speaks to the users and their career journeys, connecting with the “u” of the logotype.
- Photography also plays a key role, with natural, positive portraits of people reinforcing AstrumU’s mission to highlight individual talent and potential.
Docusign: A complete reset
With its latest rebranding, DocuSign set out to build a new foundation that could bring its ambitious vision to life: pioneering Intelligent Agreement Management (IAM), powered by its new platform, DocuSign IAM. This strategic shift is encapsulated in its refreshed tagline: “Bringing Agreements to Life.”
Aligning position with identity
To signal this evolution to users and stakeholders, DocuSign undertook a comprehensive overhaul of its brand identity. Carla Weis, Senior Brand and Creative Director at DocuSign, explained:
“We needed to do more than just refresh the brand — we needed to build a new foundation and create a brand that could bring the IAM vision to the world. This meant designing a new brand architecture, new logo marks, new color palette, new icon system, new sonic brand, and more.”
These changes in their strategy and positioning are reflected in their new brand. As their previous brand was heavily associated with eSignature, they were in need for a brand identity that would emphasize the IAM category: changes to logo, colors, and other brand elements were realized.
Key branding changes
- The new wordmark is crafted from a custom typeface, DocuSign Indigo, and moves from mixed-case lettering to a lowercase design. This shift conveys a modern, approachable, and forward-looking aesthetic.
- The isotype has been completely reimagined. A purple square with a folded corner now symbolizes a document, while a red “D”-shape connects the symbol to the company name. Together, these elements overlap to form a document-like shape, emphasizing DocuSign’s core business while signaling innovation in agreement management.
- The colors from the isotype are crucial to Docusigns new identity, with a color palette ranging from fresh white and beige tones to premium and confident dark blue, purple, and black. Additionally, futuristic gradients—which subtly suggest the brand's new AI-driven functionalities—add a sense of dynamism and innovation, ensuring the visual identity feels modern and forward-thinking.
The rebranding is showcased on an engaging branding site, where DocuSign introduces its new visual identity, product vision, and brand story. A launch video illustrates how the company is evolving to bring agreements to life, seamlessly connecting its updated look with its future-forward product offering.
Docusigns complete overhaul understates the tight relationship between company positioning and visual identity. In the Bynder study, 45% of marketers state that the rebranding of their company was rolled out to reposition themselves in the market. Thus, major changes in product strategy must be accompanied by adjustments in branding to ensure alignment between the brand promise and its outward appearance. This holistic approach reinforces trust and clarity among stakeholders, ensuring the company’s new vision is effectively communicated. Damian highlights:
“Rebranding is not just a cosmetic change; it is a strategic move that aligns your visual identity, messaging, and market presence with your evolving value proposition.”
As we wrap up the year, these rebrands demonstrate that aligning visual and verbal identity with a brand's messaging, value proposition, and company mission is essential for meaningful transformation. A cohesive brand strategy and coherent storytelling are not just nice-to-haves—they are critical drivers of growth, trust, and long-term success, especially for tech startups navigating competitive and ever-evolving markets.
Did you know that a typical rebrand involves updating about 215 assets? If you need help perfecting every single one, reach out to us.
Sources:
https://www.figma.com/blog/figma-on-figma-evolving-our-visual-language/
https://www.fastcompany.com/91190510/figmas-new-branding-is-designed-for-growth-mode
https://www.creativebloq.com/design/figmas-unapologetically-jumbo-new-identity-draws-inspiration-from-the-playground
https://forum.figma.com/t/new-figma-ui-sucks/82376
https://www.brandvm.com/post/bumble-rebrand-2024
https://www.marketingbrew.com/stories/2024/06/05/what-went-wrong-with-bumble-s-rebrand
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/article/2024/aug/17/dating-apps-decline-bumble-tinder
https://fortune.com/2024/05/17/bumble-celibacy-ad-rebrand-dating-app-women/
https://www.edelman.com/sites/g/files/aatuss191/files/2023-06/Edelman_BrandTrust_Top10.pdf
https://www.canny-creative.com/news/paypal-rebrands-with-pentagram/
https://www.pentagram.com/work/paypal/story#42665
https://www.docusign.com/blog/next-brand-chapter
https://russellshawdesign.com/docusign-2024-rebrand
https://www.bynder.com/en/press-media/2023-rebranding-study-reveals-new-data/
