AGENCY • play_sf

Simmer

A curated visual identity showcase and design retrospective for Simmer.

About

Simmer is an online game platform where sports fans compete head-to-head against each other by testing their knowledge of basketball and other sports by building fictional teams and watching the action play out.

This contest of intelligence, skill, and conviction, where outthinking your opponent is the whole point, is crystallized in Simmer's new visual identity.

The brand's logo was inspired by the ancient lion hunt, the ultimate test of skill, strategy, and nerve that pits humans against one of nature's fiercest opponents. Depicting a figure and a lion locked in a stance of direct confrontation, Simmer’s logo mark is a fitting analogy for what the brand asks of its users, testing skill against a worthy rival and emerging victorious. It recognizes and honors all the strategy at the heart of sports like basketball.

Derived from the ancient look of chiseled forms in stone, the mark updates that narrative into something contemporary. It sharpens the traditional geometric forms with striking angularity to capture the intensity of the game. That same mark anchors the product itself, sitting at the top of the app. Reminding players that they are engaged in the ultimate battle of dominance.

The lion hunt framework extends across typography, layouts, motion, and UI components, balancing established and emerging cues. Strong diagonals and structured compositions carry the weight of the myth, while a sense of constant motion, always tracking, always updating, reflects the dynamism of the game itself.

Simmer rewards real sports knowledge. Basketball, like the hunt that inspired Simmer's identity, rewards those who read the game. The app utilizes decades of player and team stats, granting serious sports fans the level of strategic depth and rigor they live for. The data vis presents all this data in a logical way that's easy to parse. Cyan works to highlight key info. Drawing attention to what matters most in the moment. It also brings a pop of the modern in an otherwise warm palette inspired by the games of antiquity.

Simmer asks its players to out-think the competition by relying on skill and strategy. Designing their brand identity asked no less of us.

See the full case study here: https://play.studio/work/simmer

Contributors
✿ PLAY TEAM ✿
Casey Martin, ECD @_casey_martin_
Owen Cramp, CD @owencramp
Nic Dray, Managing Director @nicdray
Simon Blanckensee, Design Director @s1bl
Jaime Patino-Calvo, Design Director @jaimepatinocalvo
Tina Cordes, Strategy Director @tiboutoo
Bobby Dazzler, Motion Director @bobbydazzler___
Rocío Delgado, Senior Program Manager @c_h_i_o___
Adrien Chevalier, Senior Designer @adrien__chevalier
Cassie Ciccarelli, Senior Designer @cassiecicc
Dave Ottley, Senior Designer @graphicworkmanstudio
Elise Garcia, Senior Designer @elise.garciaa
Huy Nguyen , Senior Designer @huy____
Nick Rissmeyer, Senior Designer @nickrissmeyer
Robert van Klinken, Senior Product Designer @robertvklinken
Larry Brown, Sr Motion Designer
Mac Archibald, Sr Motion Designer @macarchibald
Bojan Milinkovic, Motion Designer @bojanm.tv
Xiaoxue Meng, Motion Designer @pandegcc
David Schermer, Copywriter @cupofpizza
Matthew Gilbert, 3D Designer @mgilbertdesign
Stian Rasmussen, Photographer @stian.world

Collaborators

Client play_sf

With Keira Danehy

Agency play_sf

Discipline branding, motion, brand-strategy, brand-architecture, motion-design

Year 2026

Project Links

@play_sf ↗

Illustrator .AI Vector Verified

VERIFIED ARCHIVE