Red Canary Brand Refresh
THE CHALLENGE
Red Canary needed a clearer, more modern brand identity to stand out in a crowded cybersecurity market. Its existing logo felt bulky and dated, lost detail at small sizes, and was difficult to use across different backgrounds, while its typography lacked impact. The challenge was to evolve the whole visual identity into something distinctive, flexible, and immediately recognizable—without losing the familiar canary or the character customers already knew.
MY ROLE
The refresh began as a bold idea at a creative team offsite. I pitched it to our CMO, secured her support, and brought the team together to define the problem and guiding principles. I set the creative vision and worked with the team through iterations of the logo and typography, incorporating feedback from our CMO before presenting the direction to our CEO and executive leadership team for approval.
Once the logo lockup was complete, I partnered with Shaped By to develop the broader visual identity and new brand guidelines.
In-house creative team: Dominic Heidt, Dalton Vanhooser, Margaret Garcia, Kelsey Compton
THE PROCESS
We explored the competitive landscape and gathered inspiration from brands beyond cybersecurity, using our guiding principles to focus the creative exploration.
In the beginning we aligned with key stakeholders on these key principles
The Premier League redesign was one of the points of inspiration for our project
Simplification, move toward the iconic and bold cut-through resonated most
Over several months the team came together to work through logo iterations
Working through ideas with our in-house creative team, exploring what the next chapter of Red Canary could look like
THE THREE LEVELS OF EVOLUTION
With our guiding principles in place, we explored how far the identity could evolve while remaining recognizably Red Canary. Working together, our in-house creative team developed concepts across three levels of change—from a close refinement of the existing logo to a more substantial reimagining.
Our in-house team developed concepts across three levels of change
Evolution 1 (Charmander) was closest to the original
Evolution 2 (Charmeleon) featured more refinements
Evolution 3 featured the most substantial reimagining
THE FINAL LOGO DECISION
To make the final decision we came back to our guiding principles. Evolution #2 felt like a more modern expression with a clear connection to the original canary. It gave us the strongest balance of familiarity and simplification, preserving the canary’s character while removing the elements that limited its flexibility.
DEVELOPING IDENTITY “BEYOND THE LOGO”
To deliver on our principle of “think bigger than a logo,” we partnered with Shaped By to expand the refresh into a complete visual identity. Together, we explored directions for color, graphics, and expressive typography, developing elements like the Chirp to give Red Canary a distinctive, flexible visual language—all brought together in new brand guidelines.
THE REVEAL AND THE RESPONSE
Standing on stage with Melissa (our CMO) to reveal the new identity was one of my proudest moments at Red Canary. After months of collaboration and refinement, feeling the energy in the room and seeing how much people loved it was deeply rewarding. The excitement gave the launch momentum, bringing Canaries together around a brand they felt proud to represent.
The refreshed identity launched in March 2024. Red Canary was later acquired by Zscaler in August 2025.
THE LAUNCH VIDEO
The launch film introduced our refreshed identity and new messaging: ‘WE GOT YOU.’
“One of my greatest joys of building Red Canary was creating a brand that embodied our core values and was loved and respected by the community we served… There is a small team of people who made that happen, and if you want to build a well loved brand that has heart, you want them on your team.”
— Brian Beyer, CEO & Co-founder, Red Canary“[Milan] is one of the best creative partners I’ve worked with. He sets a high bar for quality, has great attention to detail, and possesses a strong instinct for protecting what makes a brand distinct.”
— Morgan Cole, former VP of Demand Generation, Red Canary
