Atlassian is an Australian software company founded in Sydney in 2002 by Mike Cannon-Brookes and Scott Farquhar, known for collaboration and project management tools such as Jira, Confluence, and Trello. Its visual identity has undergone two significant redesigns, in 2011 and 2017, with a further visual system refresh debuting in 2024.
Design and History
The earliest Atlassian logo, created by co-founder Mike Cannon-Brookes in 2002, was inspired by the sky-holding Greek titan Atlas, representing the company’s focus on service and support. This original mark, affectionately nicknamed “Charlie,” depicted a stylized figure holding a sky-like arc overhead.[1]
In 2011, Atlassian redesigned its logo to update the brand with a more contemporary look. The design team identified stylistic and technical problems with the original mark, including the fact that the “figure with outstretched arms” concept had been used in many other logos. The icon was redrawn to remain true to the original Atlas reference while becoming more distinct. The wordmark was set in the typeface Klavika, chosen for what the designer described as a balance of friendliness and strength.[2]
In September 2017, Atlassian introduced a new logo and identity system, retiring the Atlas-inspired mark after 15 years.[1] The redesign was driven by the company’s growth beyond IT support into a broader collaboration platform, and by the need to unify more than 14 products under one parent brand.[3] The logo design was led by Angy Che, with type design by James Edmondson, working with Atlassian’s in-house design team.[1]
The new mark was designed to be abstract, moving away from the literal Atlas connotation. The team wanted a symbol that was strong, memorable, and capable of unifying a large product portfolio while remaining expressive and approachable.[4]
In 2024, Atlassian debuted a refreshed visual system at its Team ’24 conference, developed in partnership with Michael Bierut’s team at Pentagram. The refresh was described as a strategic effort to strengthen Atlassian’s connection with customers and to map the visual identity to what teamwork actually looks like.[5]
Meaning and Symbolism
According to Atlassian, the 2017 logo carries multiple layers of symbolism related to teamwork. The company notes that viewers may see “two people high-fiving, a mountain ready for teams to scale, or even the letter A formed from two pillars reinforcing each other.”[1] During the design process, team members independently saw different imagery in the final mark, including a high-five, a path leading to a mountain summit, and two sailboats racing in tandem.[4]
The 2017 rebrand also introduced new product logos for the company’s suite, each anchored in a core value or benefit of the respective product. For example, the Jira Software logo was built from code brackets, connoting development teams, and refined until it represented teams coming together in iterative cycles.[1]
Typography and Design
The 2017 rebrand introduced a custom typeface called Charlie Sans, designed by James Edmondson. The name pays tribute to the original “Charlie” logo character, and the letter “A” in the wordmark includes a subtle arch referencing the original mark.[1] The typeface was created to balance legibility with personality and to provide hierarchy across the Atlassian brand, its products, and other offerings.[1]
Charlie Sans replaced a customized version of Klavika that had been used in the previous identity system. The earlier typeface had suffered from legibility issues at smaller sizes and did not allow for the hierarchy the brand needed.[4] Atlassian’s design guidelines specify Charlie Sans as the brand font for marketing contexts, while in-app experiences use the separate Atlassian Sans and Atlassian Mono typefaces.[6]
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