The archive · Marketing & Growth · Strategic decision · 2023–2025
Samsung's Galaxy Visual Identity System unifies every form factor — IDEA 2025 Gold
One design system simplifies and symbolizes every Galaxy model — S, Z Fold, Z Flip — across packaging, books, films and retail; IDEA 2025 Gold.
Samsung Electronics
What it had to solve
Galaxy had grown into S, S Ultra, Z Fold and Z Flip — shapes so different they no longer read as one family. Samsung's design team wanted a coherent, emotional identity that still preserved each product's character.
How it works
By 2023 Samsung's Galaxy family spanned radically different shapes: the classic S, the larger S Ultra, and the foldable Z Fold and Z Flip. Each was designed well, but together they no longer felt like one brand. Samsung's design team set out to find a clear, emotional way to express what Galaxy is.
The answer was a visual identity system: instead of one fixed logo or package, designers built rules that simplify and symbolize each form factor — distilling every model into an intuitive shape that still honors what makes it different. The system was then applied not just to packaging but to books, videos and retail stores, carrying the brand message 'Essential' across all of them.
The approach paid off at IDEA 2025, where the Samsung Mobile Design Visual Identity System took Gold, the competition's top honor, as one of two Samsung Gold winners in a 47-award haul. Samsung said the system aims to make future Galaxy launches feel fun and playful while strengthening the family image.
Why it lands
- Designing one rigid identity for products as different as a slab phone and a foldable would erase their character; a rules-based system preserves difference while creating family resemblance.
- Symbolizing each form factor makes the identity instantly readable even before the product name appears.
- Extending the system to books, films and stores turned a packaging exercise into a full brand-language overhaul.
- The 'Essential' message lets the design strip away decoration and focus on each product's core value — a philosophy the jury rewarded with Gold.
What it did
The system won Gold — IDEA's highest honor — as one of just two Samsung entries so honored in 2025; Samsung took 47 awards total. Packaging has carried the identity since the Galaxy S23 and now guides books, films and stores.
What you can take
When a brand's product range grows complex, a design system that reduces each variant to a simple symbol can rebuild coherence — and the same system scales to every touchpoint, not just packaging.
Since then
The system has been the visual spine of Galaxy packaging since the S23 and now governs communication across media and retail. At IDEA 2025 it took Gold — the highest distinction — and Samsung's design leadership cited it as proof that a product family as fragmented as modern mobile can be made coherent without flattening innovation.
Sources
- Samsung Wins 47 Honors, Including 2 Gold Awards, at International Design Excellence Awards 2025
- IDEA Design Awards 2025
- Samsung Mobile Design Visual Identity System — IDEA gallery
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