How&How designs fiery rebrand for behaviour analytics tool Hotjar

The new look for the insights platform features a redesigned logo which moves it away from a familiarity with Tinder’s flame icon.

Design studio How&How has rebranded insights platform Hotjar, with a redrawn flame-inspired icon and an “inclusive” new look, which aims to capture the emotional spectrum of people browsing online.

Founded in 2014, Hotjar informs clients how users are browsing platforms by delivering feedback through heatmaps, recordings and surveys.

One of the main challenges was the company’s previous logo, according to the studio creative director Cat How. The previous flame logo “looked a little too much like Tinder’s”, How explains.

The new icon comprises two lines, designed to “represent the user journey” and “human connection” How says. The updated logo also recalls the previous Hotjar flame, while containing a nod to an ‘H’ letterform.

A key aim for the rebrand was to show a more inclusive aspect to the product, according to the designer. As How explains, “the product shows the full spectrum of human emotion – from angry clicks to happy, contented browsing”.

In an attempt to mirror this, How created a design system of “effervescent lines” and “ponderous orbs”. Lines which run throughout the identity have a combination of “happy curves” and “angry jagged ones”, How says.

This combination of visual styles creates what How&How calls an “emotion meritocracy”, where all feelings are important as they help clients to better understand their users.

The colour palette was inspired by both warm and cool shades of a flame, creating a system of pink, purple, red, yellow and blue tones. How has also created illustrations for the rebrand using these shades, depicting people and different emotions.

CoType Foundry’s Ambit has been used as the typeface, chosen for its “friendliness” according to How. The distinctive curls also echo the “expressive lines of user’s cursors browsing websites”, How says.

Hotjar’s main sales point is it website, How explains, so the team redesigned the site with “accessibility, file size and motion behaviour” in mind. The studio has also created a dark mode option for users.


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