Kia - AI Assistant

In a world increasingly congested with chattering AI assistants, it takes a distinct design language and sharp functionality to stand out.
Partnering with the Kia brand team, we built the identity of the next-generation AI assistant for their latest lineup of vehicles.

The need for a new assistant emerged alongside the comprehensive Kia brand overhaul in 2021, marking a pivotal moment of transformation for the company.

The design of the new assistant was intrinsically linked to this rebrand, not only in its form factor and visual language, but also in its strategic positioning within the larger Kia ecosystem.

This wasn’t just a product redesign, but a holistic evolution, ensuring the assistant embodied Kia’s new identity, values, and vision.

We leveraged the principles of Kia’s design philosophy, “Opposites United,” which focuses on bringing together engineering and nature to develop the future of human mobility.

Kia's vision for the future finds harmony in contrast, merging organic, natural qualities with the precision of technology.

The assistant’s design was conceived as a living system, one that unfolds naturally across every touchpoint from OOH campaigns to digital products like the app, website, and chatbot. We built a flexible framework capable of maintaining a cohesive personality while adapting to each platform’s unique needs.

Not only does the assistant move naturally, it moves like us. Animation introduced a human layer to the assistant’s design with subtle gestures, responsive movement, and expressive timing that makes interactions feel natural, empathetic, and connected.

We developed an extremely thorough design playbook and guidelines that Kia’s internal teams can reference to ensure the assistant is applied consistently across all markets and applications. The system is built to scale, adapting seamlessly to future needs and diverse use cases.

Projects like this remind us why we do what we do, flexing our muscles across brand, strategy, creative technology, animation, and design to create expressive visuals and leverage our technical skills. Together with Kia, we pushed boundaries to create something that feels both intentional and intuitive. The assistant isn’t just a tool inside a car. It’s the voice of a brand in motion.