One year after Zip’s rebrand: A Fast Company recognition

I’m so proud to share that Zip has been recognized as a finalist in Fast Company’s 2025 Innovation Design Awards in the Enterprise category. We’re the first procurement platform ever to be named on this list, and for me this feels particularly meaningful as it comes almost exactly one year after we launched our full rebrand, a project that has shaped how Zip shows up to the world.

I wanted to share some of my reflections on what this honor means in the context of our rebrand.

Building a strong brand foundation for enterprise growth

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When I think back to why we rebranded in the first place, the first thing I think of is foundations.

At the time, we didn’t have a consistent way of messaging ourselves. Across different channels, different surfaces, and even in conversations with different customers, our messaging all sounded a bit… different. We didn’t have a clear messaging hierarchy or guidelines for tone of voice. We weren’t telling a cohesive brand story.

There wasn’t any pushback; we all knew it was time to lay the groundwork for something solid we could build on. How do we visually articulate the mission and vision of Zip’s next era?

How we created a flexible brand system

The challenge was to create a visual system that made Zip feel more mature, like a true enterprise-level company, but also flexible enough to grow with us.

Our product had already evolved so much since Zip first launched intake in 2020. What we had visually at the time didn’t fully reflect the complexity, the modernity, or the power and potential of the product. And we knew that this gap would only increase as our product continued to grow.

Software evolves fast; technological sea-changes can be found around any corner. We needed our brand to be able to keep pace without ever feeling stale or outdated each year.

Building a timeless brand identity beyond the trends

When I did our competitive audit ahead of this rebrand, I knew I wanted to avoid leaning too far into visual trends. Tech branding tends to move in waves of trends; sometimes it makes sense to lean in, but for Zip we needed something more enduring. Something we could own, something we could build equity in.

We also knew this would be especially important as we set the stage to begin expanding into sub-brands like Zip AI and Zip Community. Each of these needed to feel distinct, while still connected to the parent brand.

I saw the AI glow—how we built a fresh and modern design

When I began working on Zip AI, I studied dozens of AI campaigns side-by-side. Truly, you couldn’t tell them apart. Purple glows, sparkle 3D shapes, ominous lighting, it all fed into this uncanny fear of what AI might become.

I wanted our AI brand to feel different. Still fresh and modern, still part of the larger conversation, but not fear-driven.

That’s why we leaned into organic, biotic shapes, along with our Zip apricot hue. It felt warm and human, evoking a sense of calm, while still nodding to the adventure and innovation of AI; all the while ting back to our parent brand in a meaningful way.

Establishing brand pillars that stand the test of time

One of the elements that I’m most proud of is the set of brand pillars we landed on: peak and flow.

We wanted concepts broad and visionary enough to stand the test of time, not tied to any one hype cycle or product moment. Peak and flow capture something deeper to me: the idea that businesses and people perform at their best when processes flow.

This is a story I believe will stand the test of time, even as Zip’s product and technological innovations continue to evolve and expand.

What Fast Company’s Innovation by Design recognition means for Zip

Being recognized by Fast Company for design is an incredible honor, not just for me but for everyone on the team who contributed to our rebrand almost exactly one year ago. It is truly meaningful validation for the work we did to establish foundations, design a flexible system, and carve out a brand space that unquestionably feels our own.

But brand is never finished! As Zip continues to grow, our system will keep flexing, adapting, evolving, and telling the story of what happens when procurement flows. 

Spoiler: business flows.

If you’d like to see how Zip can help your business reach peak performance, feel free to request a demo.

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