Plus, Super, and Max
Duolingo · TIER CAMPAIGNSThree tiers. Three sounds. One brand.
Music & sound designEach tier launch needed its own identity — a new product can't sound like a rerun of the last one. And all three had to be unmistakably Duolingo. Nothing was reused. Each was written fresh, against the same character.
2021
Plus
The First Paid TierWhere the marimba entered Duo's vocabulary, paired with an OP-1. Neither is an instrument anyone takes entirely seriously. Both are good at short percussive sounds that still carry a pitch.
2023
Super
A power-up, in Duolingo's music styleThe music and sound reference was the mushroom in Mario: that specific feeling of leveling up. So the same Duolingo music got electrified. Synths, horns, a bigger driving beat. Supercharged, but still recognizably Duolingo.
Trailer-scale world-building up front with synth-based lightning sound effects. The middle section is a nod to the friendly Duolingo music style. The Max tier is fast, but the Duolingo product is still the product. From there it builds to a final burst of uncontainable energy, and a memorable sonic logo.
2023
Max
Lightning fastTHE TROUGH-LINE
None of the three reuse a melody. What holds them together is that they're all built from the same Duolingo sound. Super is that sound electrified, Max is it at high speed. And each one lands back in familiar Duolingo music before it's over. Max does it most obviously: the second the lesson screen shows up, so does the friendly music.
All of this lets each launch feel new without feeling like a different brand. A tier can go as far out as the story needs, as long as it returns to something a Duolingo user already recognizes.