Lightspeed – Game Theory

Lightspeed needed some fresh designs for their new podcast. Our response? Game on.

 

Lightspeed supports a variety of ventures, but they have had a particular focus on gaming. While we created the design for GameChangers 2025 (seen here), this podcast was going to be an entirely new project. But the designs needed to compliment what we had already made. 

So, we got to work. We started by meeting with Lightspeed to discuss the tone and style they wanted to see along with how they would be utilizing the design in various assets. We needed something that not only featured Lightspeed’s branding, but also complimented Goldman Sachs and McKinsey & Company. It also needed to work in video and in the real world since they would be recording video to accompany the audio podcast. We offered several directions, but ultimately landed on a tech-centered design inspired by the theory behind gaming.

 

Logo Breakdown

The Game Theory logo is built around three core elements. First, a “G” and a “T” come together to form a monogram in the logomark and icon. Second, brackets mimic those used in tournaments, as well as those used in gaming theory. They also suggest a smaller part of a larger whole, which is appropriate for a limited series. And third, the architecture of the logo is pixel-based, which suggests a digital theme and visually connects the podcast to Lightspeed’s sister project, GameChangers. 

 

 

We also created a pattern that could be easily applied to backgrounds. For this, we knew we wanted something that could still connect Lightspeed’s branding with gameplay, so we flipped the Lightspeed “L” on its side and created a decision tree pattern (as seen in the background of this GIF). 

During this, we made a 3D version of the logo as well. It’s an iridescent cubic extrusion of the logo that really makes it pop.

We also created a cover design featuring this 3D logo as part of a background design element along with guest graphics with special cutout treatment on the guest photos.

 

Official Cover Art and Guest Thumbnails

 

Set Design

Since this podcast would be recorded in-person with the hosts and guests all together in the same room, we wanted to keep a consistent space that was branded but beautiful. To do this, we used our decision-tree pattern with the bright, eye-catching blue to draw the audience in. It needed to work with a three-camera set-up, so we designed the space to use three panels that could easily be set-up and dismantled as the space needed. We then provided a lighting design to establish more depth between these panels. Below is the 3D render we provided compared to the final set.

Social Media

 

Next, we started creating individual assets to promote each episode, including still images and video/audio clips. For the still images, we wanted them to be versatile enough so that they could be used together as a carousel or separately as stand-alone posts. Since there were multiple social teams involved across several brands, the usability of these images needed to be flexible. They were turned into templates so the various teams could easily adjust copy later.

 

Podcast Clips

 

But podcasts are also meant to be heard (and occasionally seen) so we needed promotional clips from the episodes as well! These were to be edited from the full episodes to provide a short teaser of what one can expect. We created some different concepts, but ultimately decided on a more direct approach without any b-roll to distract from the guest. We also created audio-only versions without the video.

At the point of writing this, the series has around 150k views! This was such a fun adventure in branding and a great example of how adding motion to your branding can really make it stand out. No cheat codes needed!

 

 

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