Alkera: a full brand identity in two weeks, ahead of a YC launch.
2 weeks
Full identity delivered in a single fixed brand sprint, logo to guideline.
YC S26
Alkera is part of Y Combinator's Summer 2026 batch.
Custom tool shipped
A generative pattern tool built specifically for Alkera.
Shipped before launch
The identity was ready in time for Alkera's public launch video and market debut.
Introduction
Alkera is building the data engineering agent: native connectors across a company's stack, column-level lineage on every change, and a visual graph for planning and executing data work. This was our first project with the team.
Client
Alkera
Timeframe
2026
Services
Brand Guidelines, Assets, Logo
Industry
AI, Data Science, Developer Tools
The Challenge
Alkera was heads-down building the product ahead of its public launch, with no brand system in place yet. They needed a full identity on a fixed two-week timeline, with no room for an open-ended process.
The Process
We ran three logo directions before landing on a single mark: a flask fused with the letter A, tying Alkera's alchemy-and-data-science framing directly into the symbol. From there we built a full pattern system from simple geometric shapes, a repeatable language for showing structured data work across product, site, and social. Outside the original scope, we also built Alkera a custom generative pattern tool, so the team can produce new brand-consistent compositions on demand, long after the sprint ends.
Season Sans runs the full weight range, carrying most headline moments. The mark also holds up small, seen here as a die-cut sticker.
The pattern system extends into type, cycling through the verbs of Alkera's own pipeline: lineage, analysis, production, written, refined.
The Outcome
