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Irys is infrastructure, but it doesn’t act like it. Vivid, expressive, and full of motion, the brand challenges every expectation of what blockchain tooling should look and feel like. Underneath it all is serious engineering — data routing, protocol integrations, global scalability — but on the surface, it moves with a bubbling energy.
Lead designer Jordan Hetzer led the rebrand at Studio Freight, shaping a visual system that could hold both the technical rigor and the creative energy of the Irys team. In conversation with Clayton Fuller, he breaks down the process and ideas behind the project — from Senzu beans to sprites.
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CF
Let’s start at the beginning. What was the Irys brand like before we stepped in?
JH
Honestly? It felt like a placeholder. The site had these little sprite characters floating around, but it was all kind of slapped together. Their in-house illustrator, Nick, had made some cool things, but there wasn’t a real system. And they knew that. They didn’t want us referencing any of the brand tropes they’d landed on already.
They were really clear on a few things though. They liked brands like Nike and Levi’s. Nike for the energy, the clarity, the stoic confidence. Levi’s because it feels cultural and permanent — less like a brand, more like something you just accept as part of the world. They didn’t want a crypto-looking crypto brand. They wanted something that hit on emotion.
They were really clear on a few things though. They liked brands like Nike and Levi’s. Nike for the energy, the clarity, the stoic confidence. Levi’s because it feels cultural and permanent — less like a brand, more like something you just accept as part of the world. They didn’t want a crypto-looking crypto brand. They wanted something that hit on emotion.
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CF
One of the themes that came up in the early work was nostalgia. What kind of nostalgia were they drawn to?
JH
Yeah, that was big. But not in the way people usually mean it. This wasn’t like, "Let’s use a retro font and call it a day." It was deeper than that. They were talking about growing up on 90s anime, watching Dragon Ball Z on VHS tapes, sitting on the living room floor with wood-paneled walls. That kind of atmosphere. That’s a specific feeling, not just visual cues but warmth, weirdness, a kind of homemade energy. It wasn’t just an aesthetic. It wasn’t nostalgia as in "retro typefaces," but nostalgia as a feeling. That became the emotional spine of the brand.
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Gear 5
Transformative, Mischievous, Unserious
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Senzu Bean
Strong, Expressive, Energetic
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Calcifer
Emotive, Trustworthy, Impish
CF
You showed them three moodboards early on. Can you walk us through those?
JH
Definitely. We knew anime was at the core of their references so each board was a different take on that world.
“Gear 5” was a nod to One Piece. Luffy’s final form. Mischievous, surreal, transformed. We were thinking low-poly textures, Dreamcast-era vibes, CS1 game design. Type that felt like old Apple fonts, grid-based layouts, a little more structure around the chaos.
“Calcifer” was softer. More Ghibli-inspired. It had a peaceful weirdness. Textures that felt almost liminal. Everything was meant to evoke calm, but in a slightly uncanny way. It was elegant and restrained but still emotional.
“Senzu Bean”?? was the one they picked. It was named after the restorative bean from Dragon Ball. That direction was all about type. Flat colors, expressive letterforms, and minimal imagery. It felt clean and confident which tied back to the Nike references. There was no dimensionalization, no 3D worldbuilding. Just strong typography and considered layout.
And it made sense, too. Their animation team is 2D-based. So we were designing a system that played to their internal strengths. That always matters.
“Gear 5” was a nod to One Piece. Luffy’s final form. Mischievous, surreal, transformed. We were thinking low-poly textures, Dreamcast-era vibes, CS1 game design. Type that felt like old Apple fonts, grid-based layouts, a little more structure around the chaos.
“Calcifer” was softer. More Ghibli-inspired. It had a peaceful weirdness. Textures that felt almost liminal. Everything was meant to evoke calm, but in a slightly uncanny way. It was elegant and restrained but still emotional.
“Senzu Bean”?? was the one they picked. It was named after the restorative bean from Dragon Ball. That direction was all about type. Flat colors, expressive letterforms, and minimal imagery. It felt clean and confident which tied back to the Nike references. There was no dimensionalization, no 3D worldbuilding. Just strong typography and considered layout.
And it made sense, too. Their animation team is 2D-based. So we were designing a system that played to their internal strengths. That always matters.
“We were designing a system that played to their internal strengths. That always matters.”
Jordan HetzerLead Designer
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First Presentation
CF
What was the presentation like? I remember the client loved it right away.
JH
Yeah, I think they sent you a message saying I deserved a raise.?? [laughs] Good day.
But yeah, we only showed one direction. It was just me, Kelley, and Alan on support. We had a very clear vision coming out of that moodboard call. It felt obvious what they wanted. And for me, it was personal. I grew up on the same media they did. I was designing for myself, in a way.
We started by reworking their sprites. The originals felt a little too fan-art-y. I wanted to keep the spirit but give them a shape that felt mathematically clean, more intentional. Then we built this loose illustration system that could stretch and evolve. They could be serious, they could be funny, they could be weird, but they were all part of the same world.
But yeah, we only showed one direction. It was just me, Kelley, and Alan on support. We had a very clear vision coming out of that moodboard call. It felt obvious what they wanted. And for me, it was personal. I grew up on the same media they did. I was designing for myself, in a way.
We started by reworking their sprites. The originals felt a little too fan-art-y. I wanted to keep the spirit but give them a shape that felt mathematically clean, more intentional. Then we built this loose illustration system that could stretch and evolve. They could be serious, they could be funny, they could be weird, but they were all part of the same world.
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01/05
Original
CF
Let’s talk about the AI-generated imagery. It’s all over the brand. How did that play into the system?
JH
At first, it was just a need for visuals. We didn’t have assets, and we knew they had a strong animation team, so the Midjourney renders were temporary scaffolding. But they quickly became more than that.
We developed prompts,?? found scenes that worked, and then started cutting them up. We used them as texture, not centerpiece. It gave everything this ambient energy. Later on, their team took those renders and animated them.?? They brought them to life in a way that made them feel fully theirs.
We developed prompts,?? found scenes that worked, and then started cutting them up. We used them as texture, not centerpiece. It gave everything this ambient energy. Later on, their team took those renders and animated them.?? They brought them to life in a way that made them feel fully theirs.
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01/03
Prompt
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02/03
Refine
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03/03
Animate
CF
This is a highly stylized brand for a pretty technical company. How did you think about tying the visuals back to the product?
JH
That was a big question for us. It was fun to make, sure, but did it mean anything? Or were we just dressing up crypto in cosplay?
The key was metaphor. The sprites became stand-ins for growth. Leveling up. Transformation. We used anime tropes — like glowing glasses or exaggerated motion lines — to represent code review, transparency, scale. We started telling the Irys story through visual language people already understood.
There’s a diagram in the brand that shows the inner workings of a robot, that’s how we visualized transparency. It’s not literal but it communicates the idea more effectively than a paragraph of copy ever could.
The key was metaphor. The sprites became stand-ins for growth. Leveling up. Transformation. We used anime tropes — like glowing glasses or exaggerated motion lines — to represent code review, transparency, scale. We started telling the Irys story through visual language people already understood.
There’s a diagram in the brand that shows the inner workings of a robot, that’s how we visualized transparency. It’s not literal but it communicates the idea more effectively than a paragraph of copy ever could.
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CF
What was the most difficult part of the project?
JH
It’s going to sound backwards, but the hardest part was how easy it was. The client was amazing. Super supportive, excited from day one. But that meant we had to be our own critics. When no one is asking for revisions, you have to figure out what still needs refining. That can be hard.
The sprites were another tricky area. I had a whole vision for them — that they could evolve, stretch, become vessels for bigger ideas. But their animation team had their own interpretation. And at some point, I had to let that go. You can’t control everything in a living system.
The sprites were another tricky area. I had a whole vision for them — that they could evolve, stretch, become vessels for bigger ideas. But their animation team had their own interpretation. And at some point, I had to let that go. You can’t control everything in a living system.
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CF
The logo is just type. No mark. That’s rare for us.
JH
Right. And honestly, I think that was the right call. The type is so strong, it didn’t need anything else. The sprites act almost like an unofficial mark. They’re everywhere. They carry a lot of the brand expression, but they aren’t locked up with the logo. That gives everything more flexibility.
It’s like with Scrib3, where there’s a little guy that shows up all over the place, but it’s not the logo per se. Just part of the world.
It’s like with Scrib3, where there’s a little guy that shows up all over the place, but it’s not the logo per se. Just part of the world.
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CF
What’s your favorite part of the system?
JH
The flexibility. I came back to this months later to build out the case study, and it was effortless to make new stuff. That’s how you know it’s working. You can keep building and it doesn’t fall apart.
Also, the Midjourney layering stuff — cutting up renders, building parallax effects, combining illustration and AI texture. That was a creative unlock. It felt like a new way of storytelling visually.
Also, the Midjourney layering stuff — cutting up renders, building parallax effects, combining illustration and AI texture. That was a creative unlock. It felt like a new way of storytelling visually.
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CF
What do you think makes this project resonate so much? Everyone at the studio talks about it.
JH
I don’t know. I don’t see it as that different from Lunchbox in some ways. Maybe because I was so close to it, it just feels normal to me. It wasn’t trying to be shocking. It was just honest.
But I think maybe people respond to the confidence of it. It knows what it is. It’s not afraid to be weird, or maximal, or emotional. There’s a warmth in it. It smiles back at you. Literally, some of the sprites are smiling.
But I think maybe people respond to the confidence of it. It knows what it is. It’s not afraid to be weird, or maximal, or emotional. There’s a warmth in it. It smiles back at you. Literally, some of the sprites are smiling.
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