Featured image for Wolff Olins Works With Instacart To Refresh the Expanding Grocery Delivery Brand

Wolff Olins Works With Instacart To Refresh the Expanding Grocery Delivery Brand

by Rudy Sanchez on 10/25/2022 | 3 Minute Read

Founded ten years ago, Instacart is one of the early app-based, on-demand delivery services focused on grocery shopping. They're also a company that has clearly evolved with the market, with users saving time thanks to its cadre of shoppers at the ready.

When the global pandemic hit in 2020, an increased demand for delivery services followed. Instacart expanded to offer more than grocery services, incorporating home improvement essentials from Lowe’s and even office supplies from Staples.

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Instacart felt that its brand needed an update to reflect better its new direction towards being more than just groceries, and enlisted the services of Wolff Olins New York. The creative agency worked with the Instacart Creative Studio to establish the grocery upstart as a beloved brand with an identity compatible with its ambitions.

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Editorial photograph
Editorial photograph

A new logo, illustrations, typeface, refreshed color palette, and photography were part of Instcart’s brand refresh. The logo is a more abstract form of Instacart’s iconic carrot logo. A half circle gets topped with an upside-down arrow, a nod to location-based app graphics. Typography was developed with Ryan Bugden, and new physical assets include shopping bags, shopper ID tags, t-shirts, pickup signage, and headquarters signage.

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“Instacart is more than just grocery—they deliver everything, like cosmetics from Sephora and electronics from Best Buy—so the identity had to be adaptable for non-food items,” said Daniel Renda, senior creative director for Wolff Olins.

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“The carrot logo had equity with its customers and had lots of love internally. Our work needed to build on but transform the carrot to mean more for all audiences,” Renda added. “The previous carrot was approachable but did not signal credibility. The identity needed to help Instacart stake a claim as the leading grocery technology company in North America.”

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Editorial photograph

Wolff Olins and Instacart sought to create an emotional connection with users. The typography’s rounded shapes and deep ink traps lend sophistication to the brand. The photography is dynamic and uplifting and connects Instcart’s service with consumers’ moments of joy.

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“Instacart isn’t just an efficient digital product,” Renda said. “Instacart is a service that adds emotional value to people’s lives by giving back vital time and helping you nourish your family—it also deals primarily with food, which comes with a great deal of passion and emotion.”

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