Deliveroo is a London-based food delivery platform founded in 2013 by Will Shu and Greg Orlowski.[1] The brand is built around a kangaroo mascot, nicknamed “Roo,” and a distinctive teal colour that has remained central to its identity through two major design overhauls.
Design and History
Deliveroo’s original logo, used from its 2013 founding until 2016, featured a cartoon-style kangaroo holding a shopping bag against a teal backdrop.[2][3]
In September 2016, Deliveroo unveiled a new visual identity created by London branding agency DesignStudio, the studio behind rebrands for Airbnb and the Premier League.[2][3] The rebrand replaced the literal kangaroo illustration with a more abstract, graphic symbol depicting a kangaroo’s head as a polygon with two eyes and two ears.[3] The logotype also switched from uppercase to lowercase, making the mark easier to display across various media and sizes.[4] DesignStudio described the result as “an evolution from our original and more literal take on the kangaroo, turning it into a striking new mark, bold and impactful.”[3]
The 2016 project also included new rider uniforms developed with road safety organisation Brake, featuring hyper-reflective material on the waist, shoulders and wrists for night-time visibility.[3][4] The brand system adopted a bolder, wider colour palette while retaining teal as a principal colour.[4]
In October 2023, Deliveroo revealed its first brand refresh since 2016, developed by Deliveroo Creative, the company’s internal creative agency.[5] The refresh built upon DesignStudio’s Roo Head mark rather than replacing it. Customer research identified the teal colour, the Roo Head shape and the Deliveroo wordmark as the brand’s most recognisable visual elements.[5][6]
Meaning and Symbolism
The kangaroo mascot has been Deliveroo’s core brand symbol since the company’s founding. The 2016 rebrand kept the kangaroo as the primary inspiration but abstracted it into a simplified head shape, partly because the kangaroo carried different connotations across Deliveroo’s international markets.[7] DesignStudio’s work aimed to evolve the Roo into “a true brand icon” that would stand out across every touchpoint, from the app to rider jerseys.[7]
The 2023 identity introduced a new graphic device called the “Rooute,” inspired by the teal journey line that appears in the Deliveroo app when a customer tracks their rider.[5][6] The Rooute incorporates angles and twists drawn from the Roo Head shape and serves as a visual reminder of the brand’s core codes.[5][6]
Typography and Design
In the 2023 refresh, Deliveroo Creative set the typography at a six-degree angle, matching the angle of the Roo Head’s nose.[5][8] The project produced 400 assets, all built around the teal colour and Roo Head shape.[5][8] The refresh also introduced a set of typographic stickers with playful phrases such as “Tasty vibes only” and “Bag a bargain,” moving beyond the teal colourway with a more colourful palette.[9]
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