In 2025, branding and design are key to the success of pretty much every big corporation. But for Adobe, it couldn’t be more important. After all, if you make the software that most of the design profession is using, you have to lead by example.
With that in mind, a brand refresh for Adobe is indeed high-stakes. So it was smart thinking for Adobe to team up with one of our favourite design agencies, Mother Design. (If you’re wondering why, check out their recent work for Scribd and and AirUp.) And the work they’ve served up looks like an instant hit.
At the heart of the refresh is a confident new logotype that pays homage to Marva Warnock’s original 1982 design. Mother’s approach, they explain, was to create something that feels both “inevitable and timeless”, as if it had always been fundamental to Adobe’s identity. And it has to be said, they’ve delivered on that goal.
The lens has been meticulously designed for flexibility with defined behaviours (transform, stage, focus) and states (primary, full-flood, and red wash), ensuring consistent yet adaptable implementation across platforms.
A system that holds it all together
This brand evolution has been extended throughout the entire product ecosystem via a scalable, unified design system. Individual product brands now feature refreshed lockups set in Adobe Clean Display: a typeface evolution developed in collaboration with Adobe’s type design team and MCKL Type.
Working alongside Adobe’s product team, Mother Design has also developed a cohesive UI expression system based on Spectrum, Adobe’s product design framework. This system includes redrawn icons, flexible containers and unified motion behaviours to highlight product capabilities across applications.
