Airbnd - Design Studio

Airbnb is an online marketplace and hospitality service that enabling people to lease or rent short-term lodging including vacation rentals, apartment rentals, homestay or hotel rooms. (Armin, 2014)

As a global brand operating in every country in the world, CEO and founder Brian Chesky needed to transcend language and create something that would be recognised everywhere. They have developed the ‘Belo’, a simple icon that could be used by anyone, worked across every touchpoint and became a symbol of belonging. Belong Anywhere is an act of unifying internal and external communication platform and vision for the business. It highlighted growth opportunities built around the concept of belonging, including Airbnb experiences. As a consequence, with the new proposition, visual language and Belo icon, Airbnb elevated beyond other hospitality companies and instead transformed the travel industry, evolving into a multi-billion dollar business with community at its heart. (Armin, 2014)

With this project, we set out to create a top-to-bottom transformation of the Airbnb brand to reflect the growing global audience. Part of our goal was to design a marque anyone could draw — something that transcended language and formed the foundation of the new brand. The marque, named Belo, encompasses values of belonging and is imbued with four meanings of People, Places, Love and Airbnb. This is transcended into a community symbol that can be expressed differently by each community member and in every listing — it is not bound by language, culture or location. The end result is a symbol we hope people feel compelled to share, one that accepts we are all different, one to wear with pride. (Marion, n.d.)

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Reference and citation

Armin (2014 July 17) found that "New Logo and Identity for Airbnb by DesignStudio". Retrieved from https://www.underconsideration.com/brandnew/archives/new_logo_and_identity_for_airbnb_by_designstudio.php

Marion (n.d.) found that "Airbnb’s consistent rebrand focuses on the sense of belonging to a community". Retrieved from https://www.thebrandingjournal.com/2014/07/airbnbs-consistent-rebrand-focuses-sense-belonging-community/