Klarna’s new look aims to elevate the shopping experience
Led by Klarna’s in-house design team, the new identity builds on its distinctive pink brand colour with a fresh approach to art direction and motion design
Whether through its colourful aesthetic or playful marketing, Klarna has long sought to set itself apart from legacy finance brands. Not without its critics, the global payments and shopping service is best-known for helping to pioneer the ‘buy now, pay later’ model as an alternative to traditional credit.
While Klarna’s 2017 rebrand first saw it introduce its distinctive pink hue, its new brand refresh includes a fresh take on storytelling, art direction, and design, as the business cements its ambition to become the standard way to shop and pay.
Led by Klarna’s in-house team, the new look and feel is rooted in a brand personality that it describes as ‘curiously bold’. “We developed our tone of voice and visual identity at the same time, guided by the same creative principles — so that they both have a feeling of offbeat optimism, they both feel relevant, and they’re also really clear and direct,” says Klarna copy and storytelling director, Flo Wales Bonner.
“With our tone of voice in particular, that straight talking was really important — it’s what people need when it comes to money matters. This is balanced with playful, confident wit, to lift the experience and make it feel smart, delightful and rewarding.”
While the Klarna pink remains untouched, the primary colour palette has been balanced with off-white and black. The secondary palette, used mostly for backgrounds, includes two shades of purple, plus grey and green.
Having worked with type foundry Colophon, Klarna Title is now the headline typeface used across the company’s brand communications, while Klarna Text takes on the supporting role of the body copy and comes in various weights. The wordmark has also been redrawn to feel more modern and in line with the new typeface.
A revamped motion identity reimagines familiar digital elements such as the main logo animation, which is inspired by the push of a button, along with the wordmark and typography animations. Transitions, which nod to the app’s scroll and swipe, also bring a more dynamic touch to videos.
Finally, a fresh approach to art direction seeks to spark “magic from the mundane”, according to the brand. Featuring photography by Guillaume Blondiau and illustrations by Animade, daily life is presented through an elevated lens and familiar scenes are given more intriguing treatments.
