Okta

The World’s Identity Company

Our Role

Brand Identity, Concept Development, Art Direction, Motion Graphics, Video Direction, Physical Environments and Exhibitions, Brand Writing.

The Power of Choice

Identity belongs to you

Leading with trust

The Power of Choice. Founded in 2009, Okta has grown to be a leader in identity authentication and access management. Unlike others in the industry, it doesn’t lock users into a proprietary digital ecosystem. It works with any technology, on any platform.

Identity belongs to you. This commitment to individual agency and empowerment is central to the refreshed brand strategy Okta’s team developed. With Okta, managing our virtual identities is effortless — allowing us to focus on what makes us tick, what we do best.

Leading with trust. The rebrand — a deeply collaborative effort with Okta’s internal brand team — better positions Okta not only to lead, but to own, the very category they helped create. The new Okta brand identity launched at the 2022 Oktane conference.

A radiant, human story.

When we’re most ourselves, when we’re in control of our identity, we’re radiant. Energy springs out from our core. We’re free, in the moment, in sync. Our complexity — all of the vibrant layers that make us who we are — come together to form a single, human whole. This is the story we wanted to tell, and that we would breathe life into as a collaborative team.

Wordmark

Building on a strong foundation, we streamlined the Okta wordmark with several key refinements. Along with a decrease in weight, the refreshed mark features sharper edges, a firm base for the “t”, updated “k”, and general increase in clarity. An iteration that maintains the charm and personality of the original, while adding poise befitting of a category trailblazer. For further micro-refinements on the wordmark, we partnered with Dalton Maag.

Aura

Building on the language of the wordmark, we refreshed the Okta brand symbol as well — the Aura, a centerpiece, or hinge around which the whole identity system can revolve. It is at once a celebration of the many layers of identity and an illustration of their coherence into a single vibrant point.

Activating the Aura

Okta’s new brand symbol is as eye-catching in motion as it is at rest. The Aura can be activated at multiple scales: the individual spokes, or “facets,” in the symbol can be depicted as images, making for a vibrant, layered effect when animated. Alternatively, the symbol can be used as an icon across various touchpoints of user experience.

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People

Warm, casual portraiture and candids — of people at their most inhabited and human —are a key tool for our brand system. This approach sets the tone for representation in the category, and helps the Okta brand stand out in the broader tech space all the more.

Voice

Our refreshed Okta voice channels the visionary, vibrant, clever spirit not only of Okta’s strategic foundation, but of its founding team as well. It’s equal parts prophetic and approachable, like an inventor who sees a possible future and lays a practical plan to get there. In addition to an evolved voice guide, we retouched core elements of brand messaging and provided a suite of headlines to demonstrate the new voice in practice.

Graphic System

The entirety of our graphic system builds around the aura, which becomes a vehicle for a broad range of content and storytelling. More than just a dynamic symbol, the Aura can be used graphically as an elegant logomark in various static applications. Moreover, stills of the symbol in motion can be abstracted and used as building blocks for a range of digital & print compositions.

Fluid Transitions

The Aura’s fluid, frictionless nature when animated dramatizes the process of seamless verification quite naturally. Its elegance and ease inspire trust whenever applied to a brand experience.

Elements in Motion

Via the Aura and beyond, 3D and motion are an integral part of the new Okta identity. The overall effect is one of kinetic vibrance, of actualized potential, of human dreams made real.

Motion Toolkit

We developed a rich motion toolkit to allow Okta to create a variety of content on a range of platforms. Using the Aura as a vehicle for content and communication.

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We developed a series of abstract graphics that leverage gradations and layering to allude to layered radiance. They can be leveraged for editorial and report purposes.

Aura Graphics

Our first pressure test of the graphic system came in the run up to Oktane ‘22, Okta’s conference on the state of all things identity. For the event, we were tasked with developing a suite of large-format print & digital graphics, which would abstract details of the Aura symbol to create a general impression that is as ethereal as it is bold. To create this artwork, we partnered with Colors and the Kids.

“This week at Oktane22, our annual conference, we announced our brand purpose: to build a world where Identity belongs to you. It’s a bold goal, an expansion of what Okta does and why we do it. And today we’re unveiling a bold evolution of the Okta brand to match.”
John Zissimos, Chief Marketing Officer, Okta

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Oktane ‘22

Like the whole of our rebrand process, ideation & iteration for the Oktane creative was a deeply collaborative effort. The heavily-attended event — which featured celebrity guest speakers like Serena Williams and Magic Johnson — became a key milestone in the rebrand rollout.

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