Userlane is a Munich-based digital adoption platform company founded in 2015 that provides in-app guidance and software onboarding tools for enterprises.[1] The company’s visual identity centers on a stylized smiling face mark registered as a trademark by Userlane GmbH.[2]
Design and History
The Userlane logo is registered as an image trademark with the United States Patent and Trademark Office. The official trademark description states that the mark “consists of a stylized smiling face with one eye as a shaded circle and one eye as a shaded square.”[2] The design was also registered in Canada under the classification “Stylized smiley face.”[3]
The company has publicly explained the concept behind the mark. According to a statement from Userlane, the logo represents closing “the knowledge gap between humans (red dot) and machines (blue square).” The purple color of the brand is described as being “made up by our brains because we can’t see red and blue at the same time,” which the company likens to its product helping “the unlikely duo humans and machines to communicate with each other.”[4]
A brand refresh project was led by designer Gui Marques while at Userlane. The goal was to create a brand identity aligned with the company’s values and reflecting its growth “from a start-up to a scale-up.” The new slogan “Make software simple” guided the creative process.[5]
Meaning and Symbolism
The three main brand colors, purple, magenta, and yellow, were retained during the brand refresh to reinforce Userlane’s identity. Two accent colors, teal and green, were introduced to give the brand a fresher look and feel.[5] Purple is documented as the primary brand color and the main Userlane brand color, used for primary calls-to-action and to highlight UI elements.[6]
The brand refresh also introduced “colored floating shapes” described as “deconstructed parts of the logo, that add playfulness and character to our visual language.”[5]
Typography and Design
Userlane maintains brand documentation through a design system platform, including a language guide that states the company wants people to “recognize us, like us, and talk about us” and emphasizes consistency in presentation.[7] The brand color documentation defines primary, secondary, and accent colors with specified hex values, including the primary purple at #561eb0 and magenta and yellow as secondary brand colors.[8]
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