VALORANT Brand Development
Rise Above a Red Sea
Ultimately, the goal for VALORANT was create a brand that would feel equally at home in a packed arena during the heat of a competitive esports match or sitting shoulder to shoulder amongst the latest fashion and streetwear brands. One that represents not just a game, but a call to action, a nod to bravery and self-agency that would resonate with players, and inspire them to step into the world of VALORANT and “Defy the Limits.”
Aspirational
The Brand seed team on VAL held a strong conviction. We were certain that a unique blend of Style and tactical gameplay, coupled with a fearless embrace of Youth Culture, could catapult Riot Games' new FPS entree to prominence in a crowded, competitive gaming landscape by simultaneously appealing to core TAC shooter players and welcoming an entirely new cohort of players into a genre of gaming they usually wouldn't have considered, based on the existing options in the market.
Competition + Creativity = Style
Competition is a stage for performance. Performance invites self-expression and creativity, the core building blocks of Style. Combined with the brand pillar we coined as "Unapologetically Global," the outcome was an identity representative of the gameplay promise of VALORANT. The promise?
VALORANT is a stylish, competitive, shooter in which abilities create opportunity.
A Potent Combination
Besides being a distinct brand identity that eschewed familiar tropes of the FPS landscape (no heavy use of 3D elements and textures, mil-sim-themed visuals, or the overt presence of weaponry), the system also needed to work well with and enhance the presentation of a critical point of differentiation for VAL, the Agents. The combined logo employs a modern, purposeful, highly crafted graphic aesthetic and color palette. This approach provides an exciting contrast to the Agent key art’s expressive, almost painterly style illustrations and enhances the bold typography of their callsign names.
In Motion
We expanded VAL’s modern graphic aesthetic to the execution of motion graphic and animation components as well. Rather than motion blurs and three-dimensional movements, VAL uses snappy cuts and kinetic stretching of the flat vectors, plus 2D vertical, horizontal, and angular movements that harken back to the hallmarks of a tactical shooter. Those tense stretches of time for strategy and positioning, followed by rapid, crisp movements and precise shooting where knowing the angles makes all the difference.
ALL PROJECTS
Developing a brand is the result of the combined effort of many people. A team. The team on this project was stellar:
Tom Nguyen / Thiago Gutierrez / Cory Schmitz / Chris Tom / Mike Schaefer / Claire Gregory / Brandon Meier / Nathan Hower / Mark Diaz / Brice Cox / Ali Miller / Laura Baltzer-Bonilla / Corby Deglow / Ke Su / Atey Ghailan / Patrick Murphy / Anna Donlon / Joe Ziegler / Vanessa Jorge Perry
It also takes good partners:
