Calendly gets a rippling, gloopy rebrand for the AI age

Calendly just got a major rebrand to let users know that it’s a lot more than a calendar. The meeting software company just revealed a new logo, wordmark, color system, and brand positioning, created by the design studio Smith & Diction. At the same time, Calendly announced in a press release that it will be expanding its productivity offerings to include an AI email assistant and an AI-powered meeting notetaker, “forming a suite of AI tools designed to remove the friction—and frustration—surrounding meeting scheduling and busywork.”Calendly is facing a conundrum that’s become almost ubiquitous for the broad category of productivity software as a service (SaaS) brands: Its ambitions and capabilities in the AI era are outpacing how consumers perceive it. Most people know Calendly for its original use-case of sending one simple blue link to set up a meeting without the hassle of discussing time zones and availability; now, though, the brand wants to be much more than that. [Photo: Smith & Diction]As AI fundamentally transforms the productivity SaaS space, its key players are using design to help smooth the transition. In Calendly’s case, that means shifting from a loud, bright brand…