Arkency
Arkency is a Poland-based, but fully remote boutique software consultancy specializing in long-lived Ruby on Rails applications. And they trusted me with their visual identity update being already an established and well respected company.
Well, in all fairness, Arkency did have an identity already, the only missing element was the visual part of it. This one required a lot of research and understanding of the company’s business needs to come up with something that worked.
Previously Arkency had a pretty expressive red logo sign everyone loved, but got tired of. I didn’t want to change that as it became company’s trademark already. So a strong red base colour and an a-letter sign were established as key elements from the start.
I came up with what I call the Architect concept, based on compny’s internal slogan “architecture over covention”*.
Old logo
At the heart of Arkency’s work—both in consulting and education—is a commitment to helping developers craft applications and services with stronger, more deliberate architecture. The aim is not to follow standardised solutions, but to design systems that are distinctive and seamlessly functional. Creating something truly refined requires moving beyond the comfort and convenience of pre-packaged approaches.
There’s a subtle play on words here. While the software world often embraces the idea of “convention over configuration,” Arkency consciously takes a different stance: architecture over convention.
This principle is embodied in the main visual—a stylised top view of an architectural plan resembling a pyramid. Asymmetrical and intricate, yet formed from simple square elements, the design reflects Arkency’s belief in building complexity from clarity and simplicity—where thoughtful structure defines the whole.