America Online
Every mature industry celebrates its originals—the brands that defined the category and endured long enough to matter. People trust what lasts. The internet does the opposite, treating age like a flaw and pushing its pioneers aside as if longevity were something to hide. AOL is done playing that game. We helped build this space, and we’re stepping forward as the web’s first digital heritage brand—proving that what lasts can still lead.
Product Philosophy
Product and brand are often designed independently in tech, reducing products to pure utility. That approach never made sense, so I started with how AOL should feel, then built the product from that belief—every decision reinforcing who we are, not just what we do.
Challenge
AOL had drifted from product to promotion. Our first step was to reduce advertising to the essentials—creating the space needed to let the product be the brand again.
Infrastructure
We rebuilt AOL's core layout system, replacing rigid templates with a modular publishing foundation—one that supports real-time storytelling, experimentation, and personalization at scale.
Clearer hierarchy and editorial control reduced friction across the product, turning once stagnant pages into growth drivers.
Visual Design
Color is drawn from content and mapped to the AOL palette, creating a distinct yet relevant expression with every visit. Scale is confidence—an oversized mark that reclaims space and signals our return.
Color and layout work together as a system:
Modular structure sets the frame, while content-driven color shifts the mood, allowing the design to adapt to the moment without losing its identity. Expressive, dynamic, and unmistakably AOL.
Typography
We built a two-typeface system around contrast: Frama brings clarity and warmth, while Formula adds energy when expression needs to dial up. Together, they keep the product unmistakably AOL.
Mascot
The Running Man brought humanity to a virtual world. That’s why he mattered then—and why he matters now. His return signals a shift away from cold utility and back toward experiences built for people. Reimagined with warmth and expression, he brings a smile back to the internet.
Continuity as a foundation for change
Alongside the mascot, the original Running Man mark remains a core AOL symbol. We refined its flat iconic form to align with the new visual system, preserving instant recognition while looking forward.
Community
Before followers and feeds, AOL built real social spaces. Chatrooms bring that spirit back—connecting conversation directly to content. Articles lead into discussion, discussion leads back to discovery, creating a loop that deepens engagement instead of chasing clout. More buddies. Less followers.
