Axios was founded in 2016 by former Politico media executives Mike Allen, Jim Vandehei, and Roy Schwartz. The publication specializes in newsletters about technology, business, and politics, which are read by over 2.4 million subscribers.
Axios officially launched in the US in 2017 with the tagline “making smart people even smarter.”
In 2007, while working at Politico, Mike Allen turned the author’s Playbook newsletter into a full-fledged column and created his language, which became the language of Washington. The journalist, who previously worked at the Washington Post and TIME, has been called the man who wakes up the White House. It was also with a morning newsletter, Axios AM, that Axios got its start. This newsletter was personally written by Allen in the early years, seven days a week at four in the morning. Over time, other writers joined in writing the newsletters.
Axios has become a concentration point for people who value their time and want to keep up with the latest news in politics, business, technology, and other areas. The project team does not chase trends and hype but works exclusively for those who consume only useful content.
The simple format of newsletters and clear language brought Axios popularity in the shortest possible time. And the publication’s focus on business agenda and politics made it an important source of information for the White House, Wall Street, and Silicon Valley.
Each Axios email is a numbered list of important topics, within each of which there are different bulleted lists with subheadings to help you quickly navigate the topic. Over the years, Axios has greatly refined its approach to smart brevity and implemented it in all of its newsletters. Materials are now less likely to be sent to the website. They often end up being longer than before but are still easier to digest due to the rigid structure.
In August 2022, the American news publication Axios made a sale with one of its biggest investors, the conglomerate Cox Enterprises. This was a great opportunity for the founders to reach more regional news markets while retaining board seats and the ability to set editorial policy.
By the way, the name Axios is a religious term. It is a chant pronounced by the bishop at the ordination of a newly ordained deacon, priest, or bishop. It is pronounced at the vesting of the newly ordained person in each new liturgical garment and then repeated three times by the choir. In ancient times, the people sang “Axios” to express their agreement with the dignity of the ordained person.
What is Axios?
Axios is the name of an American news agency known for its telegraph-style newsletters – short, clear, and exclusively on the subject. The company was founded in 2016 and today already has almost 12 million subscribers from all over the world.
In terms of visual identity, Axios is more than stable. The platform has only changed its logo once, in 2020, and this can barely be called a change, just a small refinement.
The original Axios logo, created in 2016, featured a stylized uppercase wordmark in a bold geometric sans-serif typeface, with the first two characters merged, the horizontal bar of the “A” removed, and the left diagonal bar of the same letter — colored in blue, while all other elements of the badge are set in plain black. The badge looked very stable and evoked a sense of confidence and excellence.
In 2020 Axios decided to bring some freshness into the logo but didn’t want to change much, so the only new thing here is the more intense shade of blue in the diagonal bar of the “A”. This small refinement has made the logo of the service stronger and more progressive, and also shown its ability to change without betraying its initial ideas and philosophy.
The bold geometric lettering from the primary logo of Axios is set in a modern sans-serif typeface, which is most likely based on such commercial fonts as Galano Classic or Mazzard, but with the significant modification of the “A”.
As for the color palette of the Axios visual identity, it is based on the combination of blue and black. Blue is a commonly known symbol of reliability, stability, and trustworthiness, while black represents the professional qualities of the service and its perfect reputation.