Block by Block
Notion is a project management tool designed to help members of a community or organization coordinate deadlines, objectives, and assignments efficiently. The annual Block by Block conference is a celebration of what Notion makes possible and a look at what's in store for the future.
Order created a new identity and system for the conference — building from and expanding on the existing Notion brand. The system centers around how the community interacts with the Notion platform, highlighting how every person has the ability to create what they need.
Collaborators
Notion was founded in 2013 by Ivan Zhao and has become one of the most popular and flexible productivity tools. Since then, they've built an active and dedicated community of users, now reaching over 20 million worldwide.
The product itself is simple yet powerful. You can collaboratively organize notes, tasks, databases, projects, and more by shaping the platform to fit whatever your team needs.
The Block by Block identity builds from the existing Notion brand, capitalizing on its familiarity within the community while reinterpreting it in a new way.
The logo is flexible and adaptable, just like the Notion platform. It can shift, stack, and move depending on the application.
The typography uses Notion's existing brand typeface — Inter→, designed by Rasmus Andersson for Google Fonts — maintaining consistency from brand to conference. The identity also expanded the color palette, introducing three new supporting colors specifically for the conference.
Using their established brand illustration style, unique characters were drawn specifically for the conference applications.
Character animations by Aran Quinn→.
The illustrations were designed to interact with the identity system — pushing, carrying, and building with each element along the way.
Order worked with Notion illustrator Roman Muradov→ to create the full library.
Throughout the identity, characters support and respond to the information. They playfully reinforce the function of the system and the clarity of the content.
Conference speakers included Notion founder Ivan Zhao and CRO Olivia Nottebohm, as well as This American Life creator Ira Glass and lifestyle icon Martha Stewart.
The Notion in-house team used created a number of applications for the conference, from websites and social to presentations and videos.
