Franki, Koto's new brand identity: yellow, rounded type and motion

The Abduzeedo article, written by Jeff and published on 27 October 2026, looks at the brand identity that studio Koto has created for Franki, a restaurant discovery app. The piece is short, so this summary covers only what it says.

The first thing that stands out is the colour. Yellow is not used as an accent but as a full background. On top of it sits charcoal-grey text, set so large that the rounded ends of the letters look like soft, almost inflatable shapes.

Koto describes Franki as a guide for people who know where to go and when, a kind of shortcut. The identity behaves the same way. It uses a symbol with personality that stands for being in the know, candid photos of people eating, and lines that sound like a friend texting you the plan. One poster reads “Welcome to the Not-So-Secret Club, Katie”, and another answers with “IWYK”, short for “If we know, you know”.

The headline typeface is Diatype Rounded, which Koto uses at large scale. On the yellow poster, a line about after-work drinks fills the top in golden-brown letters. A small candid photo and the phrase “Franki knows a place” sit at the bottom right. The hierarchy is simple: first the joke, then the proof, and finally the sign-off.

The same grid appears on the IWYK poster. The four letters fill the top of the frame, and the small print, the symbol and the FRANKI logotype are grouped in the bottom-right corner. The logotype keeps the soft geometry of the rest of the system, with rounded shapes that match those of the symbol.

The system was built for a video-first app, so it has to work both in motion and in print. According to Koto, motion drives the system across typography, interface and content, giving it rhythm, momentum and a playful confidence. The still images already hint at that movement: poster-scale type, photos cropped into rounded cards, and a palette of bright yellow and gold against off-white and charcoal that stays legible on a phone screen.

The line that ties it all together, according to the article's subtitle, is “Make Time Dance”.

Franki Social Club takes the same language beyond the app. It rewards creators and diners for their recommendations. The club's website shows this with the tagline “Experiences Are Best Shared”, set over a grid of food, drinks and people.

The article points readers to the Franki project page on Koto's website for more material. It gives no details on launch dates, the design team or how the brand has performed.