A new design for a smarter Lumo

When we launched Lumo AI assistant(nova janela) a year ago, our ambition was to create an experience that was private, approachable, and easy to use. We designed Lumo to match these virtues — a trusted and independent mascot that protects your personal conversations.

The product has evolved rapidly since then, and with today’s release of Lumo 2.0, it is now more capable, intelligent, and versatile than ever. Conversations are richer and more informed. Lumo is more capable in the workplace. And you now have entirely new creative possibilities thanks to image generation and analysis.

For our design team, this evolution raised an important question: As the Lumo product grows more sophisticated, should the Lumo design evolve with it?

Lumo’s not a kitten anymore

When we first introduced Lumo, we also introduced the character that would become the face of the product.

At the time, both were new. The product was in its earliest stage, and Lumo was designed to reflect that moment: approachable, playful, and welcoming.

Over the past months, we’ve expanded Lumo’s capabilities, improved its intelligence, and learned from how people interact with it every day. As the product matured, it felt natural for Lumo to mature as well.

Rather than redesigning the character from scratch, we chose to evolve it. The new version builds on the foundations of the original while introducing a stronger presence and a greater sense of confidence. It reflects where Lumo is today: More capable, more sophisticated, and ready for what comes next.

And just like the product itself, this evolution is only the beginning.

Lumo AI

Alongside the evolution of Lumo itself, we also revisited the wordmark, the typography used in the Lumo logo.

As AI products become increasingly common, clarity becomes more important. While members of the Proton community already know what Lumo is, most people encounter the brand for the first time without any context.

We wanted the product’s name to communicate its purpose more directly, which is why we decided to modify the wordmark slightly, from Lumo to Lumo AI. It’s a small change, but one that better reflects the product’s growing role within the Proton ecosystem. This change only applies to the logo and visual identity — the name of our favorite mascot, of course, remains Lumo.

Inspired by intelligence

One of the most exciting challenges during this redesign was defining what an intelligent interface should feel like.

Large language models and AI platforms are fundamentally built around connections. Information moves between contexts, ideas connect with other ideas, and complex relationships emerge from countless interactions happening beneath the surface.

We wanted our visual language to capture that feeling.

The result is a more dynamic environment inspired by interconnected systems. Throughout the product, subtle motion, layered depth, and evolving gradients create a sense of movement that reflects the intelligence operating behind the interface.

Rather than treating Lumo as an isolated product, we wanted to reinforce its connection to the broader Proton ecosystem. The new visual system incorporates colors and gradients inspired by multiple Proton products, creating a stronger sense of continuity while preserving a distinct identity for Lumo itself.

Refining the experience through design

Beyond the evolution of the identity, we took the opportunity to revisit many of the core elements that shape the Lumo experience every day. While some changes are immediately visible, others are intentionally subtle, designed to make the product feel lighter, more intuitive, and more enjoyable to use over time.

A calmer and smarter environment

As Lumo evolved, we revisited how color is used throughout the product.

Purple remains an important part of the brand, but we wanted to apply it with greater intention. By reducing its visual dominance and introducing a more balanced palette, we created an interface that feels calmer, more refined, and easier to use for extended periods of time.

The result is an environment that better highlights what matters most: the conversation, the content, and your work.

Bringing more personality to the product

Lumo is more than an interface. It is also a character that accompanies you while you ask questions, create, and work.

As part of this redesign, we created a new collection of illustrations that bring Lumo into different areas of the product. These illustrations are more expressive, more detailed, and designed to reinforce the personality of the assistant without overwhelming the experience.

Small interactions that reward curiosity

Some of the most enjoyable details in the redesign are the ones users discover on their own.

Throughout the product, Lumo occasionally reacts to interactions through subtle animations and playful responses. A hover state, a click, or a simple moment of exploration may reveal hidden behaviors that bring a little more life to the experience.

These moments are intentionally lightweight, but they help transform the interface from a collection of screens into something that feels more personal and engaging.

A curated gallery designed to inspire

Getting started with image generation can sometimes feel overwhelming. To get your creativity flowing, we built a curated gallery featuring images generated by our own design team using Lumo.

These visuals showcase a variety of styles, ideas, and creative directions, helping you better understand the possibilities of image generation while providing inspiration from the very first interaction.

A more immersive creative workflow

We also considered the image creation tool itself. From generation and editing to style exploration and iteration, every part of the workflow was refined to feel more intuitive and immersive.

The goal was simple: Make it easier for you to move from an idea to a result, while giving you more opportunities to experiment, refine, and explore along the way.

Looking ahead

This visual update marks an important milestone in Lumo’s journey, when private AI goes from a proof of concept to a solution on par with the leading AI products.

Over the past months, we’ve continued to improve the intelligence behind Lumo, expand its capabilities, and explore new ways for people to create, learn, and interact with AI.

But this evolution is far from complete.

As the product improves to enable better, faster, and smarter work, the design will continue to evolve alongside it. Today’s redesign lays the foundation for the experiences, interactions, and ideas still to come.

Bonus

And because great communities deserve great tools, we thought of you too.

We’ve created a dedicated sticker library featuring our Lumo, ready to use across your favorite platforms, including Signal, WhatsApp, Discord, and more.

Everything is available to download here. We hope you’ll enjoy using them as much as we enjoyed creating them, and we can’t wait to see them appear in your conversations.