Crafted with Care

After 25 years, Ubisoft’s Anno had solidified its position as a leading builder game with millions of players, but lacked a clear design system to make it truly iconic. With a new release set in the Roman Empire, we saw an opportunity to not only capture Anno's spirit of craftsmanship, but also to rewrite the rules of game branding, forging a path for future versions of the game and changing how video games can show up in the market.

In an industry fighting to become more digital, we returned to the roots of the game, creating an identity that fuses traditional craft and human creativity, centered around the design ethos 'Crafted with Care'.

The ‘A’ logo is the focal point, inspired by traditional crafting tools that players use in-game. The negative space informs the new in-game cursor and purposefully has 9 points – a sneaky Easter egg for fans.

The new identity draws from the classical period, with Anno’s brand colours, typeface, illustration and graphic language inspired by the ancient periods that the game is set across. All these elements come together as a system that celebrates craftpersonship, while supporting the game purpose of building.

Anno’s refreshed brand lives across every touchpoint of the experience, from 3D elements to Twitch emotes, desktop icons and game pack, bridging the gap between the real and digital worlds.

The work received accolades across industry and design press, including in It’s Nice That’s Top 5 Branding Moments of 2024 for ‘redefining what gaming aesthetics can be’.

Most importantly, it’s been a huge hit within the Anno community, inspiring a surge of user generated content where fans have adopted the new symbol as their own – casting it out of metal, featuring it on their nail art, and recreating it within the game itself.