WeWork

Over the course of a decade, WeWork became the undisputed leader in coworking. Founded in New York City’s startup culture, they rapidly expanded to hundreds of locations around the globe with the goal of providing flexible office space and changing the world while they were at it. After its controversial founder’s exit, WeWork was left with an identity crisis. They needed to simultaneously shake off the narrative of the past as well as navigate the new office landscape shaped by the pandemic. With a company full of folks still striving to make the workplace a better place, Franklyn helped WeWork reimagine their brand strategy and visual identity to cement their position as industry leaders.

We quickly realized that WeWork is in a unique position to provide answers to questions of where, how and even why we work. Recognizing that decision making power in the workplace is accruing back to the individual, we wanted to shift the conversation from “we” to “you”. How could we articulate the exceptional level of care WeWork puts in its spaces and communities, while also shift the focus that it has traditionally put on itself, to its members?

Under the banner of “Taking care of all the ways you work”, we visualized WeWork as a platform for its members through a layered system of symbols and illustrations. The classic wordmark was redesigned to better match the company’s design-driven DNA. This subsequently inspired the development of a custom typeface (in partnership with A+), allowing people across the organization to easily communicate with a distinct WeWork voice. The final system is grounded in duality with the face of a sophisticated yet warm brand that stays true to the company’s ethos.