Our brand team joined forces with Mackey Saturday—the NY-based design firm behind the logos of Instagram, Oculus, and SeatGeek—to better align our logo with what Podium has become, as well what we have planned for the future.
We needed something that could build on our previous logo, represent our vision for local business, complement our ever-expanding product offering, and function well everywhere—from in-app to storefronts to large trade show booths and more. Not an easy ask.
We landed on this simple but unique form.
Even in digital form it almost feels tangible. Our tools are designed to drive real-world business, and we wanted something that represented that sense of place. The move to a more circular, sentence-case wordmark adds some balance and approachability to the more geometric symbol—combining to create a strong sense of stability and personal touch.
Breaking out of the (message) bubble.
Turning a “P” into a message bubble makes sense, right? After all, everything in Podium is built on messaging. It covers the what of Podium, but Podium is more than that. It should be able to represent the why. Our previous logo also got lost in a sea of messaging icons. And these icons are everywhere. Yes, ours was a little different, but it’s hard to tell them apart at glance—especially in smaller sizes. We’re not in the business of getting lost in the crowd, and neither are our customers.
Most importantly, we didn’t want it to be any one thing. Podium is more than messaging or reviews or any other product. We are innovators at our core, and we pair that innovation with a scrappy pragmatism in an effort to make local business work better for everyone. Our logo needed to represent who we’ve become, and continue to take on meaning as we grow.
When people think of local business, they don’t typically think of technology or convenience. We’re hoping this logo can help represent a paradigm shift. That in a world of on-demand everything, local business should be no exception. We wanted something that could feel modern and forward-thinking without losing the familiarity and warmth of doing business locally.
A defining moment for local business.
We couldn’t have anticipated what state the world would be in when we started down this road. Nobody could have. Everyone has been affected by this global pandemic, and local business has gotten the brunt of it. They’ve had to adapt overnight. Consumer trends that were already in motion have been accelerated ten-fold. And while it’s been difficult, this is what local business owners and leaders do. They solve problems. We’ve had a front-row seat as they’ve used Podium’s messaging tools to initially stay afloat and eventually thrive in the new business-as-usual.
Saying goodbye to an old friend.
A lot of people love the previous logo. We understand—we love it too. And despite its flaws, it helped get us where we are today. Since it launched in June of 2015, we’ve grown from 8 to 800 employees, gone from a single product to full suite of tools, secured a few rounds of funding, helped over 50,000 local businesses reach 1 in 4 U.S. cell phone users, built a couple of buildings, and played more pickleball than we care to admit. It’s time to move on, but you’ll understand if we do so with a lump in our throats.
