It’s a fascinating space — I honestly underestimated how complex it would be at first. Hily was founded eight years ago by three Ukrainians, and part of our team (and a lot of product decisions) is still in Ukraine. We’re mainly focused on North and South America, with some presence in Europe.

Before Hily, the founders worked on web-based dating. Moving to mobile felt like the right next step: it let us build smarter matching and respond faster to how people actually date today. From day one, the core problem the team wanted to solve was simple to say and hard to do: help two people connect in a way that leads to a good experience — from the first message to a real conversation.

We learned quickly that this is much more complex than it looks. We tested a lot, kept what helped, and retired what didn’t. For example, we launched video chat early on and later phased it out; interestingly, people still write asking where it went. That’s how it goes — constant iteration.

Unlike most products where you just need to satisfy one user, dating is a two-sided experience. If chemistry isn’t there, the app still gets the blame. It’s a whole ecosystem. We’re still pushing to make that first connection — and everything after — a little easier and a lot more meaningful.

Hily was founded in 2017, and by 2023 it was clear we’d outgrown our original identity. The rebrand launched in August 2024, but it took nearly a year of work — and another year to fully roll out, because rebranding is never done in a day.

In the early years, we focused almost entirely on performance marketing: driving installs, testing creatives, doing whatever worked. We had a name, colors, and basic assets, but the brand itself was a patchwork. People had very different — sometimes opposite — perceptions of what Hily stood for.

At some point, performance marketing hit a ceiling. That’s when brand-building became essential. We realized we had two main challenges: first, to unify how people saw us; and second, to connect with a younger generation just entering the dating scene. They weren’t around when Hily launched, and our identity didn’t speak to them.

Of course, rebrands come with a lot of energy — our team wanted to change everything, including the name. But our research showed the name had recognition and meaning, so we decided to keep it, even if pronunciation varies. (It's meant to be read as "highly," from "Hey, I Like You", but some people read it like "Heal-ly." — but we’ve learned to live with both versions.)

Instead, we focused on the visual side. The old purple was intense — very millennial. We softened and modernized the palette to feel calmer, smoother, and more relevant today.

Rebranding is never just about visuals — it always starts with strategy. We first asked ourselves: what are our goals, how are we different from other apps, and what values do we want to highlight? Once that was clear, it gave O0 Design Studio. a precise brief for the new identity.

One big insight was around the pressure of perfection in dating. People worry constantly: Do I look perfect? Am I saying the right thing? It makes an already emotional space even heavier. Our old logo — sharp, precise, full of corners — reflected that perfectionism more than we liked.

The new logo is the opposite. Its curves and bold shapes stand for flexibility, fluidity, and being comfortable in your own skin. It ties directly to our message: “Date as you are. You’re enough.” That’s the feeling we wanted to deliver — that you don’t need to be fixed in stone, you can show up as yourself, today or tomorrow, with whoever you’re meeting.

Many of these choices came out of intense design sessions with O0 Design Studio, where we pushed beyond aesthetics and looked for solutions that truly embodied this mindset.

We had a great project manager at O0 Design Studio and the team was very professional. At that moment, I collaborated with the studio on the brand strategy for this rebranding project, so I was deeply involved in everything that was happening with Hily. I valued most how they facilitated real collaboration. I have experience working on projects like this, both on the client and agency sides, and too often it’s: client sends a brief → agency sends a deck → both sides feel a bit misunderstood. Best case, it ships. Worst case, it sits on a server.

With O0 Design Studio, we did the opposite. They took time to dive into the niche and our data, and to build relationships across functions—product, performance, brand. A rebrand touches all of it, and it has to inspire the team, not just marketing leadership.

One big challenge was the gap between what people say in interviews and what they actually do later in the app. In dating, as in many other industries, self-reported answers can mislead. We had to balance perception (“what users think they want”) with what truly works (behavioral data). O0 Design Studio leaned into that complexity instead of glossing over it.

Another challenge was language around visuals. Even experts struggle to explain why something feels right. To solve this, we ran long design sessions—not 30-minute status calls. We worked through piles of references, photos, mood boards, and logos. That helped us build a shared vocabulary and align on what each choice should communicate.

Most importantly, we agreed the goal wasn’t to ship a pretty deck. It was to deliver a plan for bringing the identity to life across product and marketing—so it actually gets used.

Hily has a free option — most people never pay. Some might buy a feature here and there, but premium subscriptions aren’t mandatory. That’s important, because it means we can focus on delivering value first, not pressure.

Of course, insecurity is bigger than dating. Social media in general fuels comparison — how you look, what you own, how many likes you get. For us, “you’re enough” isn’t about sitting still, it’s about treating dating as a journey, not a scoreboard. It’s about showing up as yourself, not chasing perfection.

That’s why our features are designed to highlight what makes people unique, not to force them into competing for attention. We want Hily to feel like a venue that attracts a certain crowd — people who value authenticity and vulnerability. If you like the vibe of that “bar,” you’ll meet others who share it. Paid features can enhance the experience, but they’re never the main message.

A new logo on its own doesn’t mean much. At first, it’s just a slide deck your team and agency know about. People live their lives — they don’t care if your logo lost its corners or changed its color unless you bring it to them in a way that matters.

That’s why implementation was critical for us. Rebranding wasn’t a day-one event; it’s been a year-long rollout and we’re still fine-tuning. In practice, it meant updating hundreds of assets and touchpoints, and making sure the new identity showed up consistently across the product and communication.

Standing out isn’t about a single design choice. It’s about building associations — putting the brand into stories, emotions, and moments that make people say, this vibe is Hily. For startups especially, that’s the part people underestimate. A rebrand needs money, time, and a clear plan to actually reach the consumer.

I’m a big advocate of human centricity in marketing. With all the current focus on algorithms, big data, and AI, it’s easy to forget that at the end of the day, we’re still people — emotional, sometimes illogical, and beautifully imperfect.

What I’m proud of is that our new brand platform puts that humanity at the center. It leaves space for humor, vulnerability, even cringe — because that’s real. It’s fun to create around, and I think it resonates with people in a way that feels genuine.

For me, it comes down to simple values: be yourself, date as you are, accept yourself, love yourself, and be good to others. That’s the message I’m proud we’re putting out into the world.