Plus, Super, and Max
Duolingo · TIER CAMPAIGNSThree tiers. Three sounds. One brand.
Music & sound design · Ambrose YuEach 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
Duolingo 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
Duolingo 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
Duolingo Max
Lightning fastTHE TROUGH-LINE
None of the three share a motif. What they share is that each one is the same vocabulary, transformed. Super is Duolingo powered up. Max is Duolingo at lightning speed. And each one built off the Duolingo original sound. Max most literally, dropping back into the friendly music the moment the lesson screen appears.
The launch sounds new without sounding like someone else.