Kioga

For most of human history, we lived in constant contact with the natural world, surrounded by environmental microbes that trained and regulated our immune systems. But in the last fraction of our human timeline, industrialization, urban living, food processing, and hyper-sanitized environments have removed this crucial exposure.

Today, our balanced system is left without critical inputs, contributing to a reactive immune state and a dramatic rise in chronic disease.

Kioga is reintroducing our Old Friends; beneficial, nature-derived microbes that humans co-evolved with for hundreds of thousands of years. These microbes played a critical role in training the immune system to stay balanced, not overreactive, helping regulate inflammation across the body and brain. With the introduction of these signals, Kioga is building an entirely new approach to health, targeting stress, mood, and chronic disease at their biological source.

Stress, anxiety, and depression are more prevalent than ever. Between the state of the world, social media, mass consumption, and the day-to-day pressure to outperform yourself, we’re all spiraling. This experience is not rare or selective—it’s shared. We’re all overwhelmed, and as a result, our systems are stuck in a reactive state.

We’re constantly looking to counteract our bodies’ natural reaction to the world around us. We’re bombarded with new supplement brands, fast hacks, costly subscriptions, and scams. The result is widespread experimentation in the name of personal health and wellness, with little to no evidence-based science or validation.

Understanding this cultural truth was essential for Kioga to build academic and scientific credibility and navigate their B2B2C business model in a distinct way.

Our stakeholder workshop brought this highly-nuanced scientific work back down to earth. Together, we aligned on Kioga existing at the root layer of human health. The magic of this claim lies in the tension between clinical credibility and the dirt beneath our feet. We’re reuniting humanity with our oldest friends. For millennia, we thrived alongside these Ancient Allies as they shaped our survival. We lost touch, but now we remember.

Our identity sprint took us down a few different paths to push the edges of the brand’s expression. We pivoted late to include a much more human concept that proved to be the unanimous favorite.

The goal was to build a world that rides the edge between science and earth. We found ourselves building a system full of surprises, depth, texture, and warmth. Our tone of voice is clear and precise. Our typography supports this clarity with the clean character sets of Pangram Pangram’s Mori. To balance this clinical feeling, we introduced Bureau Serif by Smuss Type Kiosk.

Our primary mark represents humanity through a glyphic-like shape and form. The logo lockup quite literally holds the balance of human and science. The Kioga icon informs a broader glyph language to help communicate brand pillars.

Kioga's color palette is largely inspired by dirt and a range of warm neutrals. For a distinct pop, we landed on a saturated cherry red that pairs like strawberries and chocolate. To balance things out, we introduced a series of nature-inspired hues.

To expand the visual expression, we introduced the idea of layers. This further signals the depth at which Kioga operates while also building a rich brand world full of lifestyle photography, nature, textural abstractions, topographical maps, and anatomical illustrations. We found ourselves applying these layers literally with collage-like treatments in animation and folder tabs in UI components.

The combination of these elements, the vast room created for them to pair, clash, evolve, and expand, all build towards a world that feels rich enough to hold it in your hand and let it spill through your fingers.