Client: Terry Lee

Agency: Sköna

Sr. Creative Director: Janessa Mason

Video & Animations: Ron Edelen

Creative Strategy: Alison Michael

Copywriting: Andrew Ledford

Couchbase was ready for a brand evolution, but not just for the sake of a new look. Internally, there was growing tension around inconsistencies between the corporate brand, Capella, and its Developer sub-brand. Externally, the market was shifting fast. The ask was to create a cohesive system that could flex across audiences, stay consistent across platforms, and still speak directly to the developers, decision-makers, and customers at the heart of it all.

We started by identifying the core pain points and aligning around Couchbase’s key brand pillars. From there, we built a visual language rooted in coding symbols, a nod to the platform’s technical sophistication, balanced with warm tones, people-forward photography, and clear, confident typography to bring in approachability. The result was a brand system that’s flexible but unmistakably Couchbase—modern, high performance, and designed to meet developers where they are, from cloud to edge.

Couchbase rolled out the new brand internally first, generating immediate excitement and alignment. When it hit the public stage, it stood out instantly, cutting through the sea of SaaS blues and greens with a look and feel that embodied what Couchbase is all about: easy excellence, technical muscle, and the power to build without compromise.