Savannah Bergeron

Upsun creative team

Creative direction
Savannah Bergeron

Animation
Kirbie Koonse
Mario Jacome

Content
dj davisson

Creative support
Heather Argus
Emily Li

Development
Alejandro Garcia-Abaroa
Abby Milberg

Illustration
Kirbie Koonse
Savannah Bergeron

Web design
Joanie Gauthier

See it live

The Upsun Brand

We tackled the Upsun brand like we tackle everything else: with open doors and open minds. For Upsun design teams, research is always step one. We collected ideas from customers, partners, prospects, and our own teams. As part of that process, we hosted more than a dozen, cross-team  brand workshops, collaborating  across the board (and oceans) to help us build the  strongest possible brand. 

What we learned from the  experience was that letting people join the process helps build trust, gives each person a sense of brand ownership, and is just plain fun. We scrapped some ideas we thought were sure bets. Came away with new ideas that we never would have in a silo (e.g., Test in prod without testing in prod. Genius, Simon!). And built confidence in decisions we were able to validate and refine with feedback from internal Upsun engineers and other colleagues.  

When you work for analytical people, it’s always easier to sell a color like pink or oozey green when you have data to back it up. Research and collaboration can’t hurt a brand; they can only give it a stronger voice. 

The brand-creation process

As part of our research, we created a vast competitor comparison board in Figma, along with 50 of the top disruptors of the last year. We looked at fonts, imagery, colors, and landing pages. 

After that, we developed robust moodboards and started to hone in on those elements that matched our criteria without making us look like a lifestyle brand or nature conservancy. Pairing an untechnical name with a technical company meant we needed the visual brand to quickly help our audience place us in the appropriate category. 

From a foundational perspective, we took our gobs of research and interviews (as well as our own takeaways after spending time with the product) and came up with lists of words that fit—and didn’t fit—Upsun. From there, we bucketed them and distilled them into three concept words that encapsulate our brand: stability, freedom, and control. Separately, they speak to features and benefits. Together, they tell the Upsun brand story. 

The three concept words (or pillars) are used to categorize features and benefits in our messaging framework. Each audience-relevant product proof point was assigned to its related pillar and written in language appropriate for the identified audience. For example, developers might care more about declarative infrastructure while business leaders might care more about compliance. But both belong in the framework. 

When you work on a product as complex as Upsun, any early organizational and structural work around brand and messaging is paramount to keep teams aligned and on-point. 

The Upsun brand logo 

For the Upsun mark, we wanted something simple that we could use for years to come. We began with internal exploration, then collaborated with two freelancers who devote their days to brand-mark creation. 

These amazing, collective efforts presented us with a difficult decision. Ultimately, we chose a simple sun mark from designer Lucas Fields. Our new logo fuses  a sun, moon, reflection, and rainbow. 

The Upsun colors 

To start, we  explored sunset and sunrise colors, which led us to wonder what a sci-fi sunrise would look like. That landed us in a neon world of vibrant colors, with soft pastels to lean on.

We wanted a standout color that did what pink did for Platform.sh. Our ooze or neon lime color does it. Love it or hate it, you have a feeling and will notice this color. Paired with strong, new neutrals, it’s a bold choice that feels modern, tech, and confident. 

As much as we wanted to avoid blue, we needed a neutral color that could cross from product to brand. We chose a vibrant violet that is neither purple nor blue. It’s a calm color in our product console that works as a button and complements our neon ooze.