Lumen AI
Visual Identity
Duration:
6 Weeks
Industry:
Artificial Intelligence
A visual identity for an AI research startup that avoids glowing brains and robot clichés.
Lumen builds tools that help scientists search and summarise research papers. Their old visuals leaned on the usual neon networks. We moved toward light, paper and clarity: soft gradients inspired by lab photography, a precise wordmark and a set of abstract shapes that represent connections between ideas.
Before designing anything, we spent time with the Lumen AI team to understand how they talk about their work, who they are trying to reach and what makes them different in artificial intelligence. We mapped their audiences, collected examples of what they liked and disliked, and agreed on a small set of principles that every decision would be measured against.
The final work was shaped through several rounds of sketches, prototypes and real-world tests. We checked every element in the places people would actually see it, refined the details that mattered most and removed anything that did not earn its place. The result is a system that feels considered and personal, and that the Lumen AI team can confidently grow on their own.
The AI space is crowded and visually repetitive. Lumen needed to look credible to researchers and investors while still feeling distinct from dozens of similar startups.
Like many teams in artificial intelligence, Lumen AI had grown quickly and their materials had drifted apart over time. Different people had made different choices, and the result was a brand that felt inconsistent depending on where you met it. Fixing that without slowing the team down was a key part of the brief.
There were also practical limits. The budget and timeline were tight, and the team needed something they could maintain themselves after launch. Every idea had to be ambitious enough to make a real difference, yet simple enough to survive daily use by people who are not designers.
A restrained palette, editorial typography and custom 3D gradients give Lumen a calm, scientific feel. The system now runs across the product, the pitch deck and conference booths.
We documented everything in a clear, practical guide and built ready-to-use templates for the most common needs. Instead of a heavy rulebook, the guide focuses on a few core principles, real examples and simple do and don’t comparisons so anyone on the team can make good decisions quickly.
After launch we stayed involved for a few weeks to support the rollout, answer questions and fine-tune details based on feedback. Lumen AI now has a foundation that feels like a true reflection of who they are, and the team reports that creating new materials is faster and far more consistent than before.