Most people think rebranding begins with color, typography, or a new logo reveal. In reality, it begins much earlier — with a question about what a product truly is.
That decision led us not to mood boards, but to the deeper logic that gives the product its soul.
The Soul of Filo
At its core, Filo exists to reduce cognitive friction. It helps people make sense of information that already exists — emails, tasks, security, without demanding more attention in return.
This prompted a simple question: If the brand had a set of internal laws, what would they be?
The answers were not visual at first. They were structural. Filo should feel:
- Calm without being passive
- Efficient without feeling mechanical
- Assistive without drawing attention to itself
Filo began with writing.
Email is one of the oldest surviving digital forms of communication, closer in spirit to handwritten letters than to modern feeds. The original wordmark reflected that lineage — loose, human, and expressive.
As the product evolved, that metaphor began to strain. Filo was becoming more structured, more systemic. The handwritten mark described where it came from, not what it was becoming. At the same time, a practical constraint surfaced. The name "Filo" alone proved difficult to claim. Expanding it was less a branding choice than a necessity.
The new wordmark reflects that shift. It moves away from handwriting toward structure, trading expression for clarity. A small accent remains — not as decoration, but as a signal of precision and intent. The result is calmer, more solid, and better aligned with the system Filo had become. It's also more structured and deliberate, yet retains a sense of approachability, along with clearer rhythm and improved legibility.
There is one deliberate point of emphasis: the letter "i" in Filo carries a different tone. Not as ornament, but as a point of focus — a small inflection that introduces clarity and confidence without disrupting the system. Subtle, but intentional.
The original app icon of Filo leaned heavily on the envelope.
It was built as a layered metaphor: a folded envelope, a letter inside, and a checkmark at the center like physical mail. For a time, that metaphor worked.
As the product evolved, the envelope shape began to feel slightly misaligned. It was no longer about receiving and managing emails. It was more about extracting what mattered and resolving it. Less "you've got mail." More "you've got this."
The new icon reflects that shift. Layers were reduced. The envelope and background were merged into a single form, leaving only what was essential. What remains is no longer a container, but a signal — clarity replacing accumulation, resolution replacing receipt. At its center, the envelope resolves into three angled edges, serving as a subtle indication of direction.
That direction traces back to one of the earliest tools of writing: the feather pen. In traditional handwriting, a feather pen does not produce uniform lines. Its nib creates angled strokes, shaped by pressure and choice, where intent becomes visible through direction. Writing, in this sense, is not a smooth curve but a sequence of decisions. Carrying that logic forward, the form holds its character across iOS, Android, macOS, Windows, adapting to different environments without changing its voice.
A Shared Effort
Rebranding is rarely a solo act. It is a collective process, shaped through conversation, disagreement, and steady iteration.
This work was made possible by close collaboration with Roger, Chris, Boyan, and Zheng. From the earliest discussions to the final decisions, we met regularly, sketched relentlessly, and tested hundreds of directions before arriving at what ultimately felt right. The clarity of the outcome is inseparable from the rigor of that process. Each contribution, shaped by individual perspective, helped the brand arrive at a clearer identity, ready to carry its forms and stories outward.
Along the way, AI played an important role as well. Not as a source of answers, but as a tool for exploration. It helped us simulate scenarios, compare alternatives, and pressure-test ideas before committing to them.
In written form, the work lives on as Filo's official Brand Kit, brought to completion by Justin.
What remains is not just a new identity, but the memory of how it was made — together, with care, curiosity, and trust in the process, and with room for Filo to grow into what comes next. The project took shape as we found our way through it, and so did I.
