Defy Media was an American digital media company formed in 2013 through the merger of Alloy Digital and Break Media, producing original online content for the 12-34 age group.[1] The company operated popular YouTube brands including Smosh, Clevver, and ScreenJunkies before ceasing operations in November 2018.[2]
Design and History
Defy Media unveiled a new logo at its annual NewFront presentation on May 1, 2017, at the PlayStation Theater in New York’s Times Square.[3] Company president Keith Richman explained the rationale for the redesign: “as our consumer brands have grown, the Defy branding stood out as less vibrant than the brands underneath it.”[3]
Chief Marketing Officer Andy Tu described the branding project as primarily B2B-focused, telling Cynopsis: “Of foremost importance on the Defy branding project was to make sure that our partners, our advertisers, the B2B brand, felt as strong and as vibrant as the consumer brands.”[4] He added that the company’s goal was not to make Defy a consumer-facing brand or to cross-pollinate its properties like Clevver, ScreenJunkies, and Smosh, but to invest in Defy having “that same level of importance and uniqueness” as its consumer brands.[4]
An earlier version of the Defy wordmark was credited to the design studio Grain & Mortar, according to a brand guide posted by an in-house team member on Dribbble.[5] The same post noted that the in-house team was building out a new website, brand guide, and deck templates around that mark.[5]
Defy Media shut down on November 6, 2018, after struggling with debts owed to publishers from its programmatic advertising business.[2]
Meaning and Symbolism
Documented symbolism for the Defy Media logo is limited. The company’s stated intent behind the 2017 rebrand was to make the Defy brand feel as vibrant as its consumer-facing properties, which had grown in prominence.[3] The name itself reflects the company’s positioning as a challenger to traditional media, a theme Defy president Keith Richman emphasized during the same NewFront presentation when he criticized traditional television executives for lacking youth and diversity.[4]
Typography and Design
Specific typography details for the Defy Media wordmark have not been publicly documented by the company or its design partners. The logo files available on Wikimedia Commons show a wordmark treatment, but no official typeface specification has been published.[6]
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