# SeatGeek new logo (2016)

> SeatGeek launched a new logo in Feb 2016, designed by Mackey Saturday. New logo.

## Key facts

- Brand: SeatGeek
- Launched: Feb 2016
- Studio: Mackey Saturday
- What changed: New logo.
- Why: SeatGeek said its founders wanted a real identity that matched the company's voice as customers became loyal, one communicating a ticketing experience that is simple, smart, trustworthy and fun.
- Industry: Consumer internet
- Logos: https://rebrandlog.com/logos/seatgeek-2016/before.svg (before), https://rebrandlog.com/logos/seatgeek-2016/after.svg (after)

## The rebrand, explained

SeatGeek's first logo was a rush job, and its founders were happy to admit it. Inc. reported that in September 2009 Jack Groetzinger and Russell D'Souza were preparing a TechCrunch demo day pitch for their ticketing startup and needed something for their T shirts. A junior freelancer set the name in a typeface called Thesis and added a smiling line under the ee. Groetzinger told the magazine they honestly put very little thought into it.

The company grew, and the makeshift mark stayed. By 2015, Groetzinger said, the business had changed so much but never seemed to have time to tackle its brand. As the founders realised customers were becoming loyal, they wanted a real identity that matched the company's voice. They brought in Mackey Saturday, best known for the Instagram logo, a choice Inc. described as part of an unconventional approach. SeatGeek's lead designer later thanked Saturday publicly after more than a year of rebranding work.

The result, unveiled on 22 February 2016, is a simple theatre seat. As Wikipedia's entry on Saturday notes, the arms and curve of the seat resemble eyes and a smiling mouth, so the old smile survives in a new form, and the company name sits beside it in a clean custom sans serif. SeatGeek said the new brand communicates what a ticketing experience should be: simple, smart, trustworthy and fun.

Its launch post tied each word to the product. Simple meant buying and selling in a few taps. Smart pointed to Deal Score, which analyses thousands of listings, and to maps showing the view from a seat. Trustworthy meant a full guarantee and prices that include fees and shipping. Fun was the admission that buying tickets will never match the show itself, but the company would add playful touches where it could. SeatGeek said it hoped the brand would spread its fan first mentality and push the industry forward.

This is one of the better small brand marks of its decade. A chair is the most literal possible symbol for a seat marketplace, and on its own it would be dull, but hiding a face inside it gives the icon warmth without tipping into cartoon. It also carries the spirit of the original smile, which shows respect for where the company came from. The wordmark is tidy rather than memorable, and the four brand values are generic, but the symbol does the hard work, and it works at app icon size, which in 2016 mattered most.

In short: A seat that smiles back.

## Other rebrands of SeatGeek

- [SeatGeek (2021)](https://rebrandlog.com/rebrand/seatgeek-2021/) Jul 2021

## Sources

- https://www.underconsideration.com/brandnew/archives/new_logo_for_seatgeek_by_mackey_saturday.php
- https://chairnerd.seatgeek.com/seatgeeks-new-look/
- https://dribbble.com/shots/2542731-SeatGeek-s-New-Look

## Cite this

Rebrand Log, "SeatGeek new logo (2016)", https://rebrandlog.com/rebrand/seatgeek-2016/, last updated 2026-10-20.