A fresh take for a leader in software and research
Client
DORA
Role
Branding
Illustration
Animation
DORA
DORA (DevOps Research and Assessment) is the world’s largest and longest-standing research program in software development. Put simply, DORA helps software teams deliver complex solutions with ease.
After a decade in business, they were after a new look to help them stand out, tell their story, and reflect their culture. We needed to show that DORA was more than just a research program, it was a catalyst for transformation.
To capture DORA’s strong impact and its passionate community, the new brand identity needed to be bold but with a human touch. Strong but playful. Simple but still telling a story. It also needed to be distinctive and capture the personality of DORA’s parent company, Google.
The new DORA logo is a bold, memorable mark that reflects the brand’s longevity and its strength as a leader in its field. We paired a strong typeface with playful, hand-drawn illustrations, which visually counterbalanced the typography while bringing in DORA’s human side – reflecting its role in empowering teams around technology.
The “O” in DORA became a portal to possibility, a place to showcase illustrations that represent our partner teams’ success stories. Instead of focusing on tech talk, like competitors do, we wanted to hero the human experience. This was reflected not only in the subject matter but the hand-drawn style, giving a sense of “work in progress”, building together, being part of a bigger journey or project.
We created a set of illustrations, as “quick get” symbols of where the program can take you. A compass to steer the course in business. A hot air balloon to soar ahead. Ripples to represent DORA’s impact. And a globe to represent a world of opportunities and DORA’s commitment to doing better for the world.
We put together a colour palette that was unique to DORA with a subtle nod to parent company, Google. This bold colour scheme stands out in a market dominated by a sea of greens and purples.
To complement the illustrations, we created a diverse photography library of relevant people, places and industries. The images were also carefully selected to align with the brand’s colour palette.
The refreshed DORA branding has re-energised the organisation, a reminder of its proud legacy and its human focus. It’s currently rolling out globally.
