Architecting an identity for the alternative CMS.
The YC and Google backed startup is disrupting the CMS ecosystem with a free and open source alternative that’s more flexible and powerful than the SaaS incumbents.
Payload was already our agency’s content framework of choice for our most ambitious React projects. So we were thrilled to design the new Payload logo and typographic system in time for their highly anticipated 3.0 release, celebrating their transition into the backend to build the modern web.
As Payload is meant to be built upon, we wanted the type to hold its own, but never clash with the logo or color palette of a customized Payload installation. Deliberately crafted to be beautiful, but indistinct, the Untitled Sans family by the Klim Type Foundry was the perfect choice.
We typeset the new Payload wordmark in Untitled Sans with custom kerning and outline work. The new icon represents a more literal manifestation of the “network payload” design, but with broken lines to highlight the open nature of the content framework, contrasting it from vendor-locked SaaS solutions.