Buck

When global events marketplace Eventbrite set out to redefine how people see them, they partnered with creative studio BUCK to turn what had long been invisible infrastructure into something emotional, expressive, and alive. Once known as just a logo on a ticket, Eventbrite wanted to be seen as the cultural connector it had quietly become — a place to discover live experiences, not just book them. The result? A fresh, new brand system built around joy, electricity, and the energy of gathering. Here's how they pulled it off.

This was our first collaboration with Eventbrite, but from the outset, it felt like a true creative partnership. There was a shared sense of ambition and trust — they came to us not just for execution but for transformation. And they gave us the room to make it meaningful.

The core ask was to reposition Eventbrite from a passive platform into an active destination — a place where people go to explore, connect, and capture that unique thrill that comes from being part of a live experience they truly connect with. That meant developing a brand system that could span everything from hyperlocal events to global-scale festivals, from social ads to product experience. Whatever we made had to carry emotional resonance but also perform at scale — across audiences, across channels, and across use cases.

The biggest hurdle was perception. Eventbrite was already powering incredible experiences, but users didn't associate the brand with the events themselves. We needed to build something that could shift that — visually and verbally — without overwhelming the incredibly varied content it sits alongside. From comedy nights to hands-on creative workshops, the spectrum is wide. The system had to stretch, but never break. And it had to feel consistent without feeling generic.

Our strategic foundation was emotional, not transactional. After years of isolation, people are craving connection — and Eventbrite can deliver it. But to do that, it has to lead with feeling. Not utility. Not information. Joy. From user research and cultural signals, we saw a clear opportunity to meet people not where they are but where they wanted to be: out in the world, surrounded by others.

The whole system flows from a single idea: movement. Joy in motion. That shows up in the logo — “The Path” — a dynamic mark made of three fluid forms that shift and build like momentum. It gave us an anchor with energy. Around that, we built a toolkit that included gradients, photo auras, a bold but friendly type system, and expressive illustrations that could dial up or down depending on the context. The goal was to reflect the variety of what lives on Eventbrite — not flatten it.

Founders Grotesk, already in use, became the project's unsung hero — a flexible, friendly workhorse that gave us permission to push the expressive layers further. We designed a two-tier system: a restrained "core" identity for informational contexts and an “amplified” expression with glowing auras, highlighter blocks, reskinned logo treatments, and playful illustration for consumer-facing touchpoints. The photography feels raw and real. The tone of voice does, too — like your most charismatic friend inviting you to an event. Everything was pressure-tested, from stationery kits to TikTok overlays, to make sure it held together and never lost its spark.

The system was built to flex across both audience types: organizers and attendees. Public-facing materials lean heavily on the expressive layer — color, texture, and energy — while organizer comms are more typographic and information-led but still unmistakably Eventbrite. The app redesign happened in parallel, led by the team at Instrument, which meant brand and product evolved together, not in conflict.

Start with feeling. Function follows. The more expressive we let the system become, the more useful, versatile, and energized it got. And when you collaborate with a client who believes in the emotional power of branding, you get to go all in.

This identity isn't static — and neither is the platform. The new Eventbrite is already alive, already growing, and already evolving. We built the system to scale, and we're excited to see where it goes next. More importantly, we hope its vibrancy excites people to get off their phones and out into the world to find meaningful connections, passions, and shared experiences.

The refreshed Eventbrite identity accomplishes something many brands strive for but few achieve: It transforms an infrastructure player into a cultural connector. By leading with feeling rather than function, BUCK's work demonstrates how emotion-driven brand systems can drive both business transformation and deeper audience connections.