In an era of tech slop, Granola is an AI notepad built with care and intention. By capturing the context of every meeting, it allows users to cut through the busywork and get the real work done.
A believer that human presence is one of today’s most meaningful resources, Granola partnered with branding company Ragged Edge to turn a product beloved by Silicon Valley’s C-suite into a brand known by knowledge workers around the world.
The distinctive new identity became a trending topic on X on the day of launch, leading to the highest number of daily downloads in Granola’s history. In the month that followed, it became the world’s second fastest growing software brand (Ramp). And within three months, Granola had secured $125m in funding at a $1.5bn valuation.
The rebrand was followed by a launch campaign across San Francisco, New York and London.
Progress over process
While most productivity brands focus on efficiency and predictability. Granola puts progress before process. “We’re building Granola to actually be helpful in the messiness of modern work, for people who want to be present and prepared even when there’s barely a breath between meetings”, says Jack Cully, Founding Marketer at Granola. “It should feel helpful on busy days – an AI notepad for meetings that briefs you beforehand, keeps you present while it captures the detail, and helps you get more done after. This rebrand lets us say that plainly: progress over process.”
Christy Madden, Strategy Director at Ragged Edge, adds: “Productivity apps fail to live up to that name. They feel like yet another arbitrary layer, in the way of the actual work. You feel the difference with Granola instantly. By taking care of the notes, it makes space for you to stay present in every meeting and focus on the ideas and questions that matter most. It’s a beautifully designed tool for anyone ambitious about their work.”
By humans, for humans
In a category where most design sets out to be frictionless, the Granola identity was created to stand out for its human qualities: handcrafted, witty and warm.
The new logo shows how the path to growth is not a straight line. Not only a ‘G’ as a practical reference to Granola, it’s deliberately organic and freeform, like an idea scribbled quickly in a notepad or corner of a napkin. “It’s specifically designed to feel slightly imperfect and unmistakably human, an antidote to the overly sleek and impersonal identities that dominate the category,” says Jessica Bong-Woon, Creative Director at Ragged Edge.
To double down on the feeling of human intention, the identity boasts a bespoke, evolving script crafted from the handwriting of Sam Stephenson, Granola’s co-founder. Meticulously crafted from hundreds of handwritten letters, the script has multiple variants of each character. The resulting typeface, much like handwriting, evolves as it’s used and helps bring to life a brand voice that’s emotionally intelligent and down to earth but doesn’t shy away from a bit of wit.
The identity evolves Granola’s original colour palette. A warm, earthy green separates it from the vibrant RGBs often present in the category. A unique illustration style, called ‘findings’, uses layered textures, colour and photography to capture the energy and feeling of a working day well spent.
Different pays
“The temptation in AI is to look like everyone else because the market is moving so quickly,” says Max Ottignon, Co-Founder at Ragged Edge. “Granola chose a harder path. To build a brand with a clear point of view about the role AI should play in people’s lives. That conviction is what gives the work its impact. That difference is what got Granola noticed. And the commercial results followed: it quickly became the second-fastest growing software brand in the world.
In a world built to overwhelm our senses, Granola exists to protect our attention, so we can direct it towards making real progress.
Granola is not for breakfast
In the weeks following the launch, Ragged Edge and Granola worked together to launch the brand across key cities. A brand campaign in San Francisco spoke to tech leaders, avoiding the techno-babble of so many billboards in the city: “Being present is a power move”. Launches in New York and London played on the distinctiveness of the name. “Granola is not for breakfast” ran across billboards, trains, bus stops and full station-takeovers, introducing a new audience to an AI product that is fully committed to doing things differently.
About Ragged Edge:
Ragged Edge is a branding company for people who care less about how things are, and more about how things could be. Anyone with the conviction to challenge the status quo. Anyone who believes branding has the power to change organisations, change industries, change perceptions, and change behaviours. We call them Changemakers.
But change is never easy. So we challenge our clients, taking them to the edge of what’s possible in order to create a brand that can achieve change, with a process designed to reward bravery.
We help our clients make the strategic and creative leaps necessary to transform from the inside out. Taking them from where they are today, to where they can make a meaningful change in the world.
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