The many challenges facing the world right now call for radical new ways of making—with fewer resources, with less waste, with fewer boundaries between roles and industries, with more people and perspectives. Autodesk is already uniquely qualified for this moment, having built the infrastructure to help people who create do just that. Armed with this key insight, the W+K team recognized that the new brand needed to bridge humanism and futurism, balancing empathetic real-world problem solving with the optimism of handling next-generation challenges.

The visual identity is emblematic of these principles. The three-dimensional symbol that anticipates the letter “A” is a nod to Autodesk’s legacy. But in this case, it is one that can be seen from different angles, maintaining a look of development and abstraction, reflecting the range of concepting and process that the act of creating requires. In its flattened, graphic state, the symbol attempts to draw the eye away to the lower left, but then pulls it back to the point where the intended dimensions converge, creating a dynamic vibrancy that launches the identity into the future. This symbol is further developed as brand imagery, taking on various materials and lighting to represent all the possibilities of the Autodesk software.