Amir Al-Husainawi

Altr Ego, the brand

Three decisions behind the brand, August to October 2026. AI agents and tools made the pieces. Every final call was mine.Live on the App Store ↗

01

The icon

August 17 to October 1, 2026

Problem
My first idea for the icon, “ae”, was too plain.
The call
An agent drew four flat directions and tested each at 120, 80 and 40 px; two held at every size. The agent and I both picked (c). That evening I switched to (a), the red dot, because it looked clean and fresh.
What happened
On launch day I saw it on my phone: the thin edge iOS draws on every icon, and a shine on the dot. I left the edge and made the dot flat, in build 1.0.1.

  1. Aug 17

    ae in bone on red

    ae, the first mark, as the Instagram avatar

  2. Aug 30

    (a) one off-center red circle on near black (b) bone vertical bars on a red base bar (c) a bone square overlapping an offset red square (d) a and e in bone with a red dot between them

    Four directions, shown here at a real 40 px

  3. Aug 30, 6:29 pm

    (c), the double take

    (c), the double take, goes in

  4. Aug 30, 8:13 pm

    (a), the red dot

    (a), the red dot, replaces it

  5. Oct 1

    Before, on an iPhone home screen: the dot with a shine, inside the thin light edge iOS drawsAfter: the dot flat, the edge left as iOS draws it

    The dot made flat, build 1.0.1

The icon from August 17 to October 1, 2026, in five steps.

02

The reveal card

August 16 to October 7, 2026

Problem
I wanted a fun way to see what your friends think of you.
The call
Nobody reads their card until they answer the same questions about themselves, so the card can compare what you said with what your friends said. An AI model writes every card. It never sees your name, and I had it pick traits from a fixed list instead of inventing them.
What happened
On September 18 I used the live app: after I answered the 12 questions about myself, it still kept my card locked. I reported the bug and an agent fixed it.
The reveal card. Assembled from 5 witnesses. maren, then beloved flight risk in red. Energy: warm 90%, steady 70%, curious 60%, loud 40%, calculated 30%, each with a thin red bar. Perception gap: you said 65% calculated, friends land at 30%. Natural habitat: the exit, jacket already on. Most dangerous between the invitation and the actual event. Fatal flaw, on a dark red ground: mistakes leaving early for self control.

Demo content: a sample profile, not a real person.

  1. Labels. Small tracked capitals, the one place capitals appear.
  2. The verdict. The one line set in red.
  3. The bars. Each trait a 2 px red bar.
  4. The gap. What you said beside what your friends said.
  5. The fatal flaw. On its own dark red ground.
The invite screen. Since earlier today, 2 more people answered, beside a thin red rule. Verdict: written. your alter ego exists now. five people decide who you are. Five numbered seats: 01 and 02 answered, 03 to 05 waiting with a send button, every answer marked hidden. no account needed. two minutes each. The invites tab is current, marked with a short red line.

The invite screen shows how many friends have answered. Every answer is marked hidden.

The reveal card with five parts marked, and the invite screen.

03

The campaign

August 21 to October 7, 2026

Problem
The one goal was waitlist sign-ups, on a $0 budget.
The call
Show the app, don’t explain it. I scrapped a fast montage built three ways, and later cut 15 of 18 drafted posts that still felt as dull as the earlier content. Claude wrote the prompts and the code; I ran every generation, chose what to keep and posted each piece myself.
What happened
On my TikTok, 21 posts from August 31 to September 25, some branded and some personal, drew 28,779 views at 6.4% engagement, for $0. What fell short: no followers gained, zero net sign-ups from everything posted in week 1, and 54.8% of the views on the top two posts.
  1. Slide 2 of 6: five links. you pick who. You send the five invite links to the friends who actually know you. On the phone: your alter ego doesn’t exist yet, five people decide who you are, and the invites, each marked waiting and hidden.
  2. Slide 3 of 6: they answer. no account. two minutes. On the phone, the first screen a friend sees: before you answer, 12 questions about amir. Their answers go to an AI, Anthropic’s, which writes the profile, and their name is never on it.
  3. Slide 4 of 6: then yours gets written. Once three friends have answered, the app writes your profile. On the phone: your alter ego exists now, with read the verdict in red above open your file, see your group and ask five more.
The flow carouselPosted on Instagram. Slides 2, 3 and 4 of 6.

What the trailer shows: your friends already answered. A group text goes out, hey complete my altr ego through this link, with the app’s card, five people decide who you are, and five replies come back, blacked out. A file on you fills in: alignment, chaotic good; social, delusional and will somehow figure it out, each with a percentage; fatal flaw, thinks every situation has lore; reputation, will convince everyone to go out and then complain about being tired; answered by five. Then: five of them said it. you’ll never know which. It ends on altr ego and get the app.

The trailerBuilt in code, with no generated imagery. The names on screen are stand-ins.

The system

As built, from the app’s code

Name

The words alter ego in the app’s display type. The e in alter drops out of the line, leaving altr ego.

I began with Alter Ego, which was too generic and had no identity of its own. I dropped the e to stay clear of a name already taken.

Icon

  • The app icon at 120 px120 px
  • The app icon at 80 px80 px
  • The app icon at 40 px40 px

One off-center red circle on near black, flat.

Color

  • Near black#0B0A0AThe ground
  • Bone#E8E4DFHeadlines and text
  • Grey#8D8783Body text
  • Dark grey#5C5754Labels
  • Red#B3121FSmall doses

Type

your alter ego exists now

Display, 40 px, bold

nobody is ever named. no account.

Body, 13 px, regular

perception gap

Label, 10 px, capitals

Helvetica Neue, because it lets the rest of the brand stand out.

Voice

  1. Lowercase, like a text from a friend. Capitals only in the small labels.

  2. Say only what’s true.

  3. Show the app, don’t explain it.