Crafted with Care Builder Game Branding

After 25 years, Ubisoft’s Anno had solidified its position as a leading builder game, but lacked a clear brand purpose and design system to make it truly iconic. In an industry fighting to become more digital, we returned to the roots of the game, creating a new identity that fuses traditional craft and human creativity: 'Crafted with Care'. We created the game’s first ever logo symbol, inspired by traditional crafting tools used in-game and embodying the spirit of the game and community across all touchpoints; from in-game easter eggs to desktop icons, packaging, cursors and merch. The new ‘A’ logo symbol is inspired by traditional in-game crafting tools. We collaborated with an artist metalsmith to make the symbol from raw materials, the learnings influencing the design of the digital mark. It takes on different material textures, nodding to the different worlds and ages the game can expand into. The refreshed logo was revealed in service of the latest instalment, Anno 117: Pax Romana, launching in late 2025. The work lives across every touchpoint of the experience, from 3D elements to game pack. Since launch, Anno has seen a 106% increase in brand engagement compared to previous Anno game reveals, a 92% positive sentiment for the rebrand. Compared to previous Anno reveals, the launch saw a +180% in views and +245% in press coverage. The work received accolades across industry and design press, including in It’s Nice That’s Top 5 Branding Moments of 2024 for ‘redefining what gaming aesthetics can be’. Most importantly, it’s been a huge hit within the Anno community, inspiring a surge of user generated content where fans have adopted the new symbol as their own – casting it out of metal, featuring it on their nail art, and recreating it within the game itself.

From the original award submission.