Discord’s rebrand dials up the gaming vibe

Discord, the online messageboard, has evolved its branding, which is sure to appeal across demographics.

After nine months of work, Discord has revealed phase two of its brand refresh. Reportedly, many collaborators from across the business got involved in the planning process. The result sticks to its gaming roots while opening up its appeal, not unlike Reddit’s rethink. 

The Discord rebrand started after the team put together a new homepage, which helped guide some of the brand’s direction. The goals were to ‘age up’ the brand, dial up the gaming vibes and address org-wide feedback and long-standing issues with the brand.

The team worked with Porto Rocha, who helped get an understanding of Discord’s audience, dedication to craft, and conviction. After defining the visual identity and building brand guidelines, Porto Rocha produced a suite of brand assets such as a refreshed ‘.com’, deck templates, and more.

Additional 2D/3D illustrations were provided by Moth Studio, Rocketpanda, Oddfellows, and freelance talent, much of which will be revealed soon. Discord's product creative team also jumped in to define a new 2D illustration style for the core brand.

Our take

Mascots are truly back recently, with Kellogg’s and Kraft Heinz putting their lovable brand ambassadors front-and-centre of their recent advertisements.

It's easy to forget, however, that Discord’s rival Reddit was an early champion of this Renaissance, animating ‘Snoo’, its frontman, as a core component of its rebrand in late 2023.

Discord is a similar platform to Reddit, arguably sitting between the userboard’s high-level functionality and Telegram’s more paired-down interface. Its redesign seemingly takes a few cues from Reddit including, yes, the mascot appeal.

While Reddit opts for a more minimal, red-heavy aesthetic, Discord is a little more in-your-face and raring to go. It embraces a more masculine edge, echoing its gaming community demographics, complemented by copywriting that captures its brand USP as a ‘hangout’.

Overall, however, there’s enough playfulness and approachability to appeal to more casual, mainstream audiences. Again, much like Reddit’s rethink.