In a corporate setting, the seamless flow of tasks is critically important. This is the reason why companies use project management software to streamline their processes.
But have you wondered what the companies behind these tools actually look like?
Atlassian, an Australian software development company, creates such tools that help teams collaborate and plan their work. A geeky symbol’s transition into a well-thought-out emblem is what the Atlassian logo evolution journey conveys.
Let’s review its logo evolution and find out the thought process behind each change in brand identity.
2002 – 2008: Sky-bearing Atlassian Logo
College friendships create unforgettable memories – and sometimes multinational software corporations. Two University of New South Wales alumni, Mike Cannon-Brookes and Scott Farquhar, started Atlassian in 2002.
One of the earliest products launched by Atlassian was Jira, a bug-tracking tool that later evolved into a project management software. Since the original company ethos was to support other brands, CEO and co-founder Mike Cannon-Brookes created the first logo, inspired by the heaven-holding Greek Titan Atlas.
Did you notice that Atlas also inspires the brand name?
The first Atlassian logo features a stick-figure man holding a cycloidal structure in both hands over his head, symbolizing the sky. The mascot, Charlie, ruled the visual identity, with no wordmark.
The brand presented Charlie in a darker contrast of blue, while the sky was in a lighter blue palette. The black outlines on him created a 3-D effect.
2008 – 2011: A Sleeker Charlie
By this time, Atlassian had started gaining momentum. It became a multinational corporation. This new pace also brought along a logo refresh.
In this version, Charlie adopted a more angular and fit appearance. The raised arms were straight and extended instead of curved and touching the form overhead, making it look like the letter ‘X.’ The arch above looks slimmer and stretched into a smile-like curve. A matte dark blue gradient colored the symbol perfectly.
In 2008, this Atlassian logo design introduced the company’s wordmark alongside “Charlie” in a heavy, condensed sans-serif typeface. The version was short-lived, remaining in use only until 2011, when the next major redesign occurred.
2011 – 2014: Atlassian Symbol Reimagined
After using the stick-figure logo for almost a decade, Atlassian redesigned it in 2011. It was because the older symbol still carried the Atlas reference. But also because many other tech brands were using the “outstretched arms” logo.
This time, designers opted for a symbol that felt like a simple, contemporary version of the previous one.
Hence, the arms got curved again, connecting to the lower half through a single line. The two curved lines together form an hourglass shape. Moreover, the designer changed the circular head into an inverted triangle, which fit perfectly into the hollow space.
The redesign shortens and smooths the arch above the figure. It distinguishes the figure and the arc via colors. The humanoid structure was in light blue, whereas the bowed composition was in light green. The title case brand name was in a dark blue Klavika typeface.
2014 – 2017: A Synchronous Atlassian Logo
This time, the brand avoided making any drastic changes to its logo. The subtle refinements included removing the green from the curved shape and monochromatizing the whole structure in light blue. The wordmark appeared in a darker, grainy blue color, which makes the design updated and synchronous.
2017 – Present: A Sophisticated Look
In 2017, the famous software company redesigned its logo for the fifth time. It now uses simple structures that represent the brand identity and its core philosophy, “the zeal of teamwork”, in a cohesive way. The new Atlassian logo offers the initials in a fresh, minimalistic, and creative manner.
These irregular pillar-like forms with curved edges join each other harmoniously, making the letter “A.” The designers found this triangular shape similar to two people high-fiving each other, two sailboats cruising together, and a summit path leading to a mountain.
The all-caps wordmark is in a custom typeface known as “Charlie Sans”. It features a distinctive detail – a slightly downward bulging crossbar in the letter ‘A’, which draws inspiration from the earth-bearing figure presented in its first logo.
These thoughtful references make this redesign more familiar. The logo uses a fresh, solid blue color (#1868DB) for both symbol and typography.
Finally
As the company enjoys its hard-earned reputation, we can see the transition of the Atlassian logo from a titan-inspired symbol (which explains the brand name) to a simplistic mark (that shows the brand name). This small but significant shift is what most brands aim to achieve while refreshing their visual identity.
Atlassian Product Logos
Apart from the primary corporate logo, Atlassian also introduced some new symbols to make its wide range of software tools, such as Jira and Confluence, stand out.
Atlassian Confluence Logo
Confluence is a cloud-based collaboration and workspace tool that enables teams to work together, update, and share any project-related information and documents. It also allows them to work remotely.
The Atlassian Confluence logo consists of an icon with its wordmark. For its icon, the brand uses a similar element and color gradient. A blue square with smooth edges holds these two opposite-facing mirrored white curves. The wordmark features a customized, titlecase font that shares similarity with the “Niveau Grotesk” typeface to present the software’s name.
Atlassian Jira Logo
Named after “Gojira,” the Japanese word for “Godzilla,” Jira is a project management and issue-tracking tool used by software development and DevOps teams to track bugs, manage tasks, and plan and release software.
For the Jira logo, a rounded square encloses three arrow-headed shapes, which are pointed upward in the top-right corner and stacked diagonally behind each other. The wordmark “Jira” renders in a black “Niveau Grotesk” inspired typeface.
Other Atlassian Product Logos
In addition to these, designers developed other logos to represent the new identity of Atlassian’s wide range of products.
Take a look below:
FAQs
1. What is the Atlassian mascot?
Charlie, the sky-holding symbol inspired by the Greek Titan, Atlas, is the Atlassian mascot.
2. Which font is used in Confluence?
For the Confluence logo, the brand uses a proprietary font, which drew inspiration from the Niveau Grotesk typeface.
3. What is the new Atlassian font?
Charlie Sans is the custom font developed by Atlassian that represents the wordmark in the new logo. The crossbar of ‘A’ is deliberately arched as an ode to Charlie, the mascot.