Superhuman

Smith & Diction developed Superhuman’s new identity in the middle of a significant consolidation: multiple acquisitions, and a decision to rename the company.

What began for the Philadelphia-based branding studio as a single-brand task became a system that unified Grammarly, Coda, Superhuman Mail, and Superhuman Go. They responded with an interactive system that treats motion as structure rather than ornament. Central to their work is the Hero symbol, discovered through sketch exploration and sharpened through early motion tests until it became both a cursor and a cape, instantly legible, but flexible enough to live as an icon, a mascot-like character, and a recurring UI device.

Alongside it sits a refined wordmark by Smith & Diction that reads as a clear evolution of Superhuman’s existing, widely recognised brand, preserving equity while making it more adaptable across new surfaces. As multiple products came under one roof, typography became a practical problem: seven or eight different type families across platforms, costly to license and challenging to apply consistently.

Smith & Diction set out to unify everything by choosing a super family: a sans, a serif, and a mono built on shared principles, so the tone could shift without the system feeling like it’s changing type altogether. As Smith & Diction explain, they chose Messina as the foundation because its Sans is “extremely functional” in product design. At the same time, the Serif version adds “elegant writerly qualities” to the brand.

My role focused on type customisation. With a comprehensive licence in place, Messina was customised and tailored precisely to the new identity, resulting in Super Sans and Super Serif. Rounded punctuation and tittles pick up on the softer feel of the Hero icon. The result is a consistent typographic toolkit that works for rigorous UI needs as well as more expressive brand writing.

Working on such a complex project was fascinating, and collaborating with the team at Superhuman alongside Smith & Diction was an absolute pleasure. Further reading on this extensive project is available in Smith & Diction’s Medium Post, or you can explore the work on Superhuman’s website.





Literally Everything: Chara Smith
Creative Direction: Mike & Chara Smith
Superhuman Creative Team: Jessica Svendson, Angy Che, Leah Pincsak, Rebecca McMillin, Collin Whitehead, Rebecca McMillin, Kyle Howard, Erin Dame, Jonathan Larson, Sara Jacczak, Claire Rosas, James Fleming, Tammy Sun
Symbol: Mike Smith, Summer McClure, Tully Ryan
Wordmark: Dayan D’Aniello, Mike Smith
Type Systems: Dayan D’Aniello
Art Direction: Summer McClure, Gavin Potenza
Icons & Illustration: Summer McClure, Tully Ryan
Animation Support & Brand Support: Tully Ryan, Caleb Sun
Animation: Justin Lawes
Sound Design: Upright T-Rex Music
Brand & Vibe Tools: Gavin Potenza
Custom Typography: Luzi Gantenbein
Cyrillic Consulting: Maria Doreuli
UI Icons: Helena Zhang
Bumper Animation: Brent Clouse