Stink Studios Puts Player Passion Front and Centre with Evolved Brand System for Riot Games

Stink Studios has partnered with Riot Games, the name behind gaming titles including “League of Legends,” to create an evolved and expanded design system that unifies Riot’s growing portfolio of games and media. 

Inspired by Riot’s gaming worlds and the players who love them, Stink Studios has developed a dynamic design system that celebrates Riot’s iconic “fist bump” logo, and injects its identity through every medium, from in-game visuals to social posts and live events. Working closely with Riot’s brand team, Stink’s updated design system offers Riot’s teams flexible new ways to engage fans.

In the 15 years since “League of Legends” established Riot Games as a major force in the gaming industry, it has continued to grow its creative universe with hits like “Teamfight Tactics” and “VALORANT,” and multimedia ventures into music, comics, and television, including the critically acclaimed, Emmy-winning Netflix series “Arcane.” Recognising the need to evolve and expand the brand, Riot briefed Stink Studios in early 2024 to develop a dynamic design system that would unite the brand with its growing roster of successful IPs. 

Stink Studios began by carrying out research with Riot’s creative teams. What emerged was that, while Riot owns many properties across multiple media, there is a unified brand purpose at the heart of everything it does: making the player experience better. With these findings, the team at Stink Studios worked on developing a master brand that celebrates the games and commitment to its players.

At its heart is the fist bump, central to the Riot Games identity since the start, which is now elevated to a living symbol of approval, and a fist bump to the community.

The core colour palette is anchored in the iconic Riot Red which has been expanded to include complimentary tones, giving depth and flexibility to the system. The secondary, expressive palette is inspired by the diverse worlds within Riot’s games.

In fact, every aspect of the design system is infused with references, and in some cases literal moments, from Riot’s games and gaming worlds. This includes a range of patterns that can be used throughout brand assets as graphics, frames, masks, dividers and animated textures, instantly bringing a recognisably Riot vibe to any layout.

Stink Studios has also put characters from games at the forefront, making them ambassadors for Riot. 

All this information is now incorporated into a brand manual which is flexible enough to be followed to the letter or reimagined to create something new. But Stink Studios has a simple main rule for designers: “If it doesn’t make you want to give us a fist bump, it’s probably not right.”

Cameron Temple, executive creative director at Stink Studios, said, “Above all else, Riot has a dedication to improving the player experience. As gamers ourselves, this allowed us to draw upon what we love about the games to create this work - the cool bits, the nerdy action stuff, the flair that gets us hyped to play the games in the first place. The system covers everything a modern brand should, but importantly, the results feel impassioned and authentic, like it comes from a company that makes games”.

Chris Hoag, senior brand manager at Riot Games, said, “Stink helped us synthesise how various teams used the brand and clarify the problems they encountered. And working with those findings as a basis, Stink helped us uncover design themes that were easy enough for every Rioter to pick up, but powerful enough to allow creative teams to continue evolving our brand into unique ways that speak directly to our most passionate players”.