Seismic is a sales enablement software company founded in 2010 in San Diego, California, by five co-founders including Doug Winter, Fred Xie, Nasser Barghouti, Marc Romano, and Ed Calnan [1]. The company’s visual identity underwent a significant transformation in 2022, when it introduced a new logo and color scheme alongside the launch of the Seismic Enablement Cloud [2].
Design and History
Seismic’s current logomark, introduced in April 2022, is affectionately dubbed the “Seismic Stack.” The mark consists of two solid wedge shapes sitting one on top of the other, per the company’s trademark filing [3]. According to the company’s own brand announcement, the shapes reference a screen, a presentation, or a slide, honoring Seismic’s history in content management. The two trapezoids come together dynamically like tectonic plates and hold an “S” in the negative space, with an overall upward, growing angle [4].
The 2022 rebrand was driven by the launch of the Seismic Enablement Cloud and a new company mission. Seismic’s executive and marketing teams identified three guiding principles for the new identity: dynamic, approachable, and confident. The company noted that it had used the same logo for over a decade while pioneering the enablement software category, launching new products, and completing multiple acquisitions [4].
Prior to the 2022 refresh, Seismic had used a different logo featuring an “S” comprised of two interlocked shaded partial circles with a triangular portion missing in each, with the word “SEISMIC” to its right, as described in a trademark application filed in 2020 [5]. That earlier mark was abandoned after an inter-partes decision in 2022 [5].
Meaning and Symbolism
The Seismic Stack’s design intentionally references tectonic plates, connecting the mark to the company’s name. The shapes come together “dynamically like tectonic plates,” and the overall form carries an upward, growing angle that is mirrored across the entire visual identity [4]. The reference to a screen, presentation, or slide in the shapes honors the company’s roots in content management [4].
Typography and Design
The Seismic wordmark introduced in 2022 was based on the typeface Azo Sans. Both the wordmark and the rest of the logo were crafted by the San Francisco-based creative agency barrettSF [4].
The 2022 rebrand also introduced a new color system. The company brightened its existing orange to a new primary color called Dawn, and paired it with a rich purple called Dusk and a soft blue called Cloud. Secondary and tertiary colors were also expanded to bring energy and playfulness across the brand [4].
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