SeekOut is an AI-powered talent platform founded in 2017 by a team of software professionals with deep expertise in AI and machine learning, headquartered in Bellevue, Washington.[1] The company’s visual identity was created by the London office of the design firm Pentagram, which developed a complete brand system for the enterprise talent optimization platform.[2]
Design and History
SeekOut announced a new brand identity in late 2022, introducing a refreshed look across its platform and communications. The company’s CEO and co-founder Anoop Gupta described the change as an evolution meant to better reflect the company’s people-first values, with the choice of colors, imagery, photography, and copy all aimed at bringing people to the center of value creation in organizations.[3]
Pentagram was commissioned to create a brand that would appeal to businesses and the talent seekers within them. Although the platform is powered by cutting-edge technology, the new brand identity needed to feel deeply human-centric and display empathy, warmth and emotional intelligence. Pentagram’s challenge was to communicate complex and abstract themes such as talent retention or AI hiring without falling into the established vernacular of nodes or data, instead applying a more humanistic approach.[2]
The project team included Karolina Alvekrans, Jack Brown, Eoghan McMahon, Alice Murray, Yorgos Panagopoulos, Daniela Perez, Charlotte Selby, and Alizee Taimiot, with illustration by Justan Peterson and UX/UI work by Curtis & Co.[2]
Meaning and Symbolism
The SeekOut logo uses chevrons to contain the word “out,” which Pentagram describes as a subtle nod to coding language. The brackets create a flexible space in which the brand can extend beyond SeekOut and into specific product brands and offers. A shorthand version with only the letter “S” and chevron is used to create the symbol when space is limited, such as for social media icons or favicons.[2]
Color is used to differentiate the name and help readability, playing a key role in creating a warm, welcoming style. The diverse color palette stretches across all applications while giving flexibility to both the product itself and marketing materials.[2]
Typography and Design
Pentagram specified GT Alpina for headings and the Google font DM Sans for body copy, chosen to allow for consistency across all applications. The typography is described as clean, modern and friendly.[2]
Beyond the logo itself, Pentagram developed a library of bespoke SeekOut icons used across the company’s products and marketing communications to visualize more technical, specific things at smaller scales where illustration or photography would become illegible. A set of commissioned illustrations uses the SeekOut color palette and appears across on- and offline communications, reinforcing key messages and adding a playful element to the brand language.[2]
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