It’s bizarre now to think back on how quickly AI slipped into our daily lives, shaping the way we work and live. The global AI market is now valued at nearly $391billion, with forecasts suggesting it could grow almost five-fold by the end of the decade.
But as the sector grows, so too does the need to stand out. A fresh crop of AI brands is entering an increasingly crowded market, yet the products themselves often chart entirely new territory, with tools and services with no clear precedent.
That gives branding a crucial role – not only in setting the stage for these products and articulating what they offer, but also in ensuring they stand apart in a teeming landscape.
What’s striking across this new wave of launches – as well as established AI platforms undergoing a refresh – is a deliberate decision to move away from the default visual tropes of tech.
Gone are the gradients, sparkles, and stripped-back minimalism – in their place, studios are building identities with more texture, personality, and nuance, presenting AI less as a faceless system and more as a relatable partner.
How&How’s new brand for Jupi
When How&How began working on the identity for Jupi, an AI-powered decision-making operating system, they set out to create a brand that looked and felt unlike anything that had come before.
“What we wanted with Jupi was something really out of the category. We wanted it to challenge the conventional, almost chillingly robotic, minimalist, OpenAI-ish aesthetic, and feel more authentic and human,” says Cat How, CEO and executive creative director of How&How.
That ambition was sharpened through strategy led by narrative consultancy FNDR, whose insights underscored Jupi’s dynamic decision-making ability.
The studio decided to focus on this idea of dynamism and translated it visually into a number of elements, from motion that melts like Dali’s clocks to a mascot, inspired by Rodin’s The Thinker, that walks and moves.
The Thinker offered a powerful metaphor for a decision-making operating system. To convey Jupi’s agility and its ability to think on its feet, the mascot was given a pair of legs, allowing it to stride across screens. Its treatment carries meaning too.
The rough, almost-chiselled finish of both the mascot and the wordmark suggests that decision-making is always a work in progress – imperfect, evolving, and in constant flux. Its hand-hewn texture also injects a sense of humanity, a conscious break from the slick, polished perfection long associated with the tech industry.
Elsewhere, the Magritte-esque illustrations, drenched in metaphors and an air of surrealism, add personality to the brand, while giving it a vivid visual voice that’s unafraid to stick out in the crowd.
“It’s just really sad, how, when branding for tech, we’re all forced to fall into the familiar tropes of everything having to look blue and trustworthy,” How says. “It was important for us that Jupi look nothing like what we usually see in tech, because it shows that they’re confident about being different.
“There’s a big appetite for things that are different because people see so much of the same stuff nowadays. So the idea is that you either go big or go home.”
As How points out, tech brands face a unique challenge. They’re often selling something intangible, without the immediate sensory cues of a physical product.
That’s why emotion and storytelling become so important – they bring life and clarity to something that mostly exists as code and concept. “It’s certainly easier to sell beer than it is to sell an AI decision-making tool,” How adds.
How&How’s new brand for Jupi
That exercise of taking something intangible and giving it a brand world, that feels immediately human and palpable, was a challenge Parker took on when branding Picco. The AI-powered platform is designed to automate and streamline repetitive tasks for sales teams, enhancing productivity and efficiency.
Rather than presenting Picco as a magical fix-all, Parker framed the brand as a true companion to day-to-day work.
“Particularly in the sales space, where demands are fast-moving and often unpredictable, the identity needed to signal a tool that is light, nimble, and reactive. The narrative wasn’t about replacing people, but about supporting them – removing friction, keeping pace, and helping teams focus their energy where it has the most impact,” says Tyler Eide, creative director and founder of Parker.
Parker’s brand world for Picco
In order to give the intangible product a relatable visual world, Parker rooted the identity in textured illustrations of outdated office tools – fax machines, typewriters, staplers – teasing the brand idea of “out with the old, in with the new.”
By elevating these tools – that literally levitate and leave the screen – the team nods to the past, while signaling progress.
“The whimsical treatment turns what once felt clunky into something light and contemporary, a perfect counterpart to Picco’s bird symbol,” Eide says. “It’s a way of saying: the old technology has had its day, and now Picco is here to take its place.” Meanwhile, the brand’s innate sense of agility is captured in the hummingbird icon and the wordmark that takes cues from performance brands, evoking speed and efficiency.
Parker’s identity for Picco
Together, these playful, narrative-driven elements not only differentiate Picco’s offering, but also give the brand a visual identity that sidesteps conventional norms in tech branding.
“We weren’t interested in making this feel like another piece of ‘tech.’ Instead, the identity is built around a promise: a lighter, more nimble way of working,” says Eide.
Picco’s approach exemplifies a broader challenge in AI branding – creating identities that feel human and relatable while reflecting the sophistication and capabilities of emerging tech.
A key part of this lies in understanding, and responding to, our evolving relationship with digital tools. Leading brands in the space create a sense of optimism about what AI can unlock, while taking responsibility for how it is applied.
“Visually, that means brands are becoming more imaginative, rather than presenting themselves as cold, futuristic utilities,” says Ben Lewin, partner at Otherway.
Otherway’s identity for Robin
In their comprehensive rebrand for Robin, an AI-powered platform that re-imagines legal work, Otherway knew they had to imbue the identity with a sense of humanity, while also underpinning, “the cutting-edge innovation that has gone into making such a powerful platform,” says Jordan Mann, Otherway’s design director.
That considered balance reveals itself in several aspects of the identity. The updated Robin icon stands, “as a beacon of humanity and character, while the majority of AI brands are leaning into a more ‘process’ or ‘precision’ lead brand mark,” says Mann.
The redbreast brand colour is immediately recognisable amidst a sea of cold blues and purples in the industry, and brings the warmth the brand needs. Typography, UI, and the layout system complete the picture with a framework that is precise, authoritative, and robust, speaking to Robin’s technical foundations.
A significant part of the worldbuilding – and arguably its most distinctive feature – is the moving, illustrated landscapes users can actively journey through.
Otherway’s illustrated landscapes for Robin
“The strategic direction was ‘New Legal,’ a punchy provocation that reframes the possibilities of legal within the world of business, from roadblock to driver of growth,” says Mann.
“This drove every decision within the new brand system, but came to life most powerfully within our digital landscapes, framing ‘New Legal’ as a serene and abundant place you can go to, designed to feel like the antithesis of the stressful experience of old legal.”
And he adds, legal can be intimidating, abstract, and often invisible, which makes it hard to visualise in a way that resonates emotionally.
“Illustration gave us a way to turn those intangible ideas into something expansive and optimistic. Ariel Lee’s painterly style was the perfect way to create a world that felt warm and innately human,” says Mann.
“Through her landscapes, we could show transformation – forests opening up, paths emerging, ecosystems flourishing – and give Robin a world that feels inspiring, not transactional.”
Otherway’s illustrated landscapes for Robin
Perhaps the surge of more expressive branding for AI is a response to the evolving role these tools play in our lives. Increasingly, AI is no longer being cast as a flawless, all-knowing, slap-on solution to every problem, but as a partner that works alongside us.
This shift asks designers to imagine identities that feel less transactional and more relational – brands that reassure, inspire, and invite collaboration rather than dictate it.
By weaving together narrative, emotion, type, texture, and illustration, studios are giving form to this change, showing that the most compelling AI brands aren’t distant or mechanical, but instead feel present, human-aware, and supportive.
“Every wave of new tech arrives with a big bang, then slowly finds its place in the world. AI is at that stage now,” Lewin says.
“We’re starting to see AI brands moving away from being seen as ‘machines’ to being understood as ‘collaborators.’
“That doesn’t mean over-humanising or appearing fake. It means designing with empathy and imagination, so people see AI as a tool that works with them, not against them.”