Design at Bolt

Our new look and why we upgraded

From being a brand over 200 million people move with to looking like one. Fresh greens, illustrations, and more in our biggest brand update since 2019.

Since our last major brand update in 2019, Bolt has evolved in every respect. With two exceptions.

The first is our mission to make cities for people — and that won’t change. When people can move without driving their own car, the result is less traffic and pollution — and greener, more people-friendly cities. We’re not eliminating cars, but offering better alternatives.

Today, 200 million customers use Bolt to get around and make their day-to-day lives easier. And 4.5 million partners rely on us to make a living. This mission has guided us through many phases of growth and expansion. And will continue to do so for the many more phases we have ahead of us.

The second constant has been our branding. Despite becoming a household name in Europe, Africa, and beyond, our visual identity didn't see much expansion. Over time, the look and feel that once made us distinct made it difficult to scale our brand at the pace we grow as a business — or provide a great experience across our entire product range.

So, we decided it was time to shed some of our brand elements to make way for a refreshed look. One that could keep up with the rest of Bolt while staying true to the mission that got us where we are today.

A group of Bolt employees posing together, representing the company's diverse and collaborative team culture.

“For a company that operates frugally by principle, a seven-figure agency-led refresh was out of the question. Instead, this refresh was conceptualized, developed, and executed by Bolt’s in-house creative team. ”

Kaarel Kala

Head of Brand Design

Colours

Our branding is present in both the digital and physical world, so we updated our colours to work equally well in both.

From cars and scooters to apps and billboards — our brand is seen by people in over 600 cities across the world. Everything should not only look the same, but meet the accessibility and inclusivity standards we operate by. Because shared mobility is for everyone.

Now, the green on a Bolt car and courier bag is the same green as our apps and website. We also introduced a darker shade to ensure enough contrast for anyone to easily read our online comms, use our products, and recognise our brand.

Typography

To be ready for the year and years ahead, we updated Bolt’s font from Euclid to Inter.

Inter is an open-source, Google-backed font that supports over 990 languages. Compared to Euclid, it’s more technical and versatile.

Now, we can ensure readability and consistency across a growing range of internal and external communications, most of which are localised into hundreds of languages.

Illustrations

One of our most prominent brand updates is the shift from a 2D to 3D illustration style.

The flat Corporate Memphis style had frankly grown stale and lost its original charm. And for the millions of people who use our apps daily, that wasn’t good enough.

We incorporated more dimension, versatility, and movement across over 400 new illustrations that come to life with simple animations. And most importantly, they make using Bolt a little more fun.

Sound

Over the years, we’ve become an inherent part of the urban landscape. So, we created a new sonic identity that blends in.

Our multimedia designer spent weeks analysing birdsong, engine sounds, conversation harmonies, and car horns to determine the musical key of the average city. It turns out it’s F♯7(♭9,9,11). That became the starting point for our new library of in-app sounds — Qui.

Qui is a pleasant, modern, and optimistic family of sounds that are now played across all of our apps. And if you’re wondering what instrument you’re hearing, the answer is a disassembled Bolt scooter. Yes, you read that right.

Grid system and layouts

We created a flexible grid system to support the growing range of dimensions, channels, and mediums we design for.

More markets means more varied legislative requirements, from displaying copy in multiple languages to adding longer disclaimers for promos.

The new layouts give us the flexibility to scale design globally while maintaining consistency — and keeping our comms clean, simple, and easy to digest.

Bolt micromobility ad promoting electric scooters.

Bolt ad displayed on a pedestrian overpass.

Photography

Our new look is complemented by an extensive library of custom imagery for a more authentic look.

After dozens of photoshoots and many hours invested in establishing our own unique style, we now have the range and volume we need to deliver fresh, distinctive designs at the pace we launch products and features.

Every photo tells its own story. And when it needs the help of copy, our new layout system offers the flexibility to showcase both.

Consistency

This refresh wasn’t just about change. It also aligned the look of our apps.

Until now, Bolt Food leaned towards colourful while Bolt stuck to green. Different is good, but we wanted to bridge the visual gap for the many customers who use both apps daily.

Now, all our products share a unified green palette. And a range of accent elements allows us to highlight valuable information, while retaining consistency throughout.

Bolt Food ad displayed at a bus station.

Design at Bolt

See all open roles at:

bolt.eu/careers/positions/

We’re a group of creatives that design, animate, illustrate, write, photograph, film, coordinate, plan, laugh, and cry. All in the pursuit of making great things.

Though we’re expecting fewer tears now that this has launched.

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