Koto, the global creative studio, has partnered with Tripadvisor to launch a comprehensive brand transformation. As Tripadvisor evolves from travel guide pioneer to global planning and booking powerhouse, the new identity marks a defining shift: a brand rooted in community, built for passionate travellers everywhere.
TripAdvisor revolutionised travel 25 years ago by putting real reviews from real people at the heart of the journey. Now, as the company expands its product offering with AI planning tools, direct booking capabilities, and more, it needed a brand to match its ambition.
Brand Strategy: Built Around Real Travel, Real People
The rebrand began with Tripadvisor’s most powerful asset: a community of real travelers sharing real experiences. In a world of algorithmic recommendations, that human voice—trusted, lived-in, and unfiltered—became the foundation.
Koto immersed itself in how people use Tripadvisor today, working closely with internal teams across brand and product. Tripadvisor’s existing strategic foundation based on making everyone a better traveler still resonated with the brand’s evolution. Koto strengthened it with a mission around building the best product for planning, booking, and sharing every trip.
From this foundation, Koto grounded the strategy in two essential truths: people want advice from travelers who reflect their values and experiences, and the richness of those stories helps them picture what a trip might actually feel like. Not generic inspiration. Real, trusted insight. This became the creative north star, shaping design, behavior, and voice.
Koto developed a verbal identity to match. Tripadvisor’s voice is now warmer, more relatable, and made to connect. It flexes across brand and product without losing clarity or character. And crucially, the system defines how the brand speaks alongside traveler reviews, balancing editorial clarity with community wisdom, making space for both.
A Design System That Feels Lived-In
Tripadvisor’s new identity is built to showcase travel as it really is: personal, textured, emotional. Every element was designed to elevate real stories, without feeling staged or slick. It is always grounded in what travelers actually see, say, and share.
The logo brings new life to Tripadvisor’s iconic owl mascot, Ollie. Once static and ornamental, Ollie now feels alert and expressive, his gaze always oriented toward traveler content, a quiet cue that Tripadvisor values their perspective.
Tripadvisor Green, originally inspired by “green means go,” has been refined to feel warmer and more vibrant. Trip Pine replaces black to add depth and reassurance, while Trip White enhances clarity. The secondary palette is drawn directly from traveler photos to make every layout feel grounded, personal, and real.
Typography is led by Trip Sans, a custom typeface inspired by Tripadvisor’s iconic bubble rating system. Its circular geometry adds consistency and warmth, balancing product clarity with brand expression. It’s built to scale, from interface to campaign.
Graphic devices elevate traveler voices: review bubbles, rounded corners, green dots, and dividers inspired by vintage postcards. Each element adds structure and softness in equal measure, helping the brand feel both organized and human.
Photography remains Tripadvisor’s emotional core. Sourced exclusively from real users, the imagery is unfiltered, narrative-led, and dynamic. Presets were developed to unify tone and texture, preserving warmth, depth, and a sense of place.
Motion follows the same principle. Ollie’s eyes track content, UI elements glide with intent, and transitions remain smooth and considered.
“As Tripadvisor is entering a new chapter of its growth, the brand had to meet that moment,” said Arthur Foliard, executive creative director at Koto.
That meant putting the heart of Tripadvisor — its global community of travelers — front and center. We built the entire strategy and identity around real people: their words, their photos, their stories. With over a billion reviews and counting, Tripadvisor isn’t just a platform for travel — it’s built by travelers, for travelers. This rebrand captures that energy, that curiosity, and that wisdom you can only get from people who’ve been there.”
