In late 2023, Discord shifted its focus back to gaming. While a quick initial sprint got a new homepage with updated positioning out the door, it left us with a fragmented visual identity and some messy design debt. I stepped in to lead a full refresh of the brand with a clear set of goals:

• Age up the brand.

• Dial up the gaming vibes to match our new strategy.

• Fix newly introduced and long-standing design issues.

• Build a coherent, scalable brand system.

The Approach

With a lean in-house team, we needed backup. Past Discord rebrands relied heavily on "full-service" agencies, but I pushed us to partner with specialized design studios instead. I led the effort from day one, figuring out the scope our work, writing the briefs, hunting down the right partners, directing the studios, heading up rounds of feedback, and making sure the rest of the company knew what was going on.