As we enter a new economy, post recession, there is a new breed of investment funds that are breaking new ground and offering new and innovate business the money they need to survive in an increasingly technologically driven marketplace. Creed is one of these investment groups helping to grow new business and help build a new stable economy.
BRIEF 9: CREED
DISCOVER
DEFINE
DESIGN
1
Brief [Client]
Market
Visual
Creed Investment Group and Creed Capital Partners is a new investment firm looking to help entrepreneurs and business get the capital they need to start new and innovative businesses which use technology. They are part of a new generation of investment firm which have been developed post-recession to offer the best investment opportunities for all parties involved as well as making investments in business which will help to grow a stable economy in the future. Creed needs to distiniguish itself from other captial investment firms and hedge funds so that people can see that they are changing game and they can provide safe and effective captial for there business venture.
As Creed wants to be different and set thenselves apart from the rest I explored into the brands of there rival investment firms to see what devices and visuals they use to represent themselves.
Visually I explored a range of identities that had been created technology startups as this is main sector Creed will be investing in, I felt it was necessary for the brand to appear in a manner similar to this as Creed’s audience will be familar to this type of branding. Additionally I also look into the city at ngiht, as many traditional investment groups use images of big cities in the day like New York or London. I wanted to reflect how Creed opposes this and pontentially use night time imagery and the city at night to represent the brand in a new light.
User The main user of the website will be young entrepreneurs and business looking to seek investment. The website needs to be simple and self explanatory it should also feel different from traditional investment websites so that users are aware that this is a different type of investment that Creed offer. The brand should engage the auidence by being fresh and dynamic rather than appearing dull and corporate like traditional firms.
Hyde Park Angels This is a fairly corporate brand with a use of standard sans-serif font and bland colour palette, it’s basic and lacks engagement. It’s formal and serious it’s tone and doesn’t shout out that it’s an innovative company that’s doing something different.
Deliverables -
On going documentation on Blog A minimum of 5 submission boards Brand [Logo / Colour Schemes / Typefaces] Business Cards / Stationary Website [Desktop / Mobile]
Fortress Fortess is slightly different in that it used full width images to fill the browser which makes it feel slightly more intresting but furthermore the brand is corporate and consists of a brand name and mark. Creed want’s to be anti-corproprate and it’s values stand with building a new economy that’s different from traditional back door deals and corporate big cats.
BRIEF 9: CREED
DISCOVER
DEFINE
DESIGN
2
Logo Mark Development
Brand Application Pathway 1
Brand Application Pathway 2
Taking into account the visual styles I had researched into I started to look at using sans-serif typefaces for the mark but looking at unsual it which the sub text could be incorprated into the mark. I looked into the street signage of the night for inspiration for how to look at constructing the logo mark.
After speaking with the client they liked the idea of potentially using night time imagery of the imagery they also suggested to me using black and white imagery which may achieve the same effect so I created two different pathways to show to the client. I wanted to let the imagery immerse the user in the website so I let white, clean typography lay over the top to create a minimalist yet captivative, strong and powerful tone of voice speak through.
Within the second pathway I focused more and furthering the use of the city and inspiration from the city within the designing, I introduced dashing of colour within the logo mark to break up the use of black and white. I started to look into neon typography and how this could translate into the design, as neon type is very promonient in the city at night.
BRIEF 9: CREED
DISCOVER
DEFINE
DESIGN
3
Brand [Above] The final brand consists of two marks which are constructed in the same way however a colour has been assigned to each mark to differeniate each of the sector of the overall form, both logo marks also work in sold white. The colour used black and white and two spot colours as I devised limited colour palette this meant two colours could be Fluro spot and be within the budget. To compliment the condensed typography for titling and the logo mark I chose a rounded and wider typeface for the copy.
Stationary [Left] The main stationary that was required were letterheads and business cards as well as envolopes and the firm invests in digital start ups they want to remain as digital as possible however this range of printed collatorel was still required. the use of spot colours means the it can be printed onto both a white or black stock. As the letterhead needed to be on a white stock whereas the envolope was more on brand and it a black envolope with a Fluro spot colour printed on top.
BRIEF 9: CREED
DESIGN
DEFINE
DESIGN
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Home [Right] The home page uses strong black and white imagery from the dark of the night complimented by strong use of copy that is engaging and thought provoking. The text scrolls the width of the website mimicing the LED titles of the city at night often used above shops and in city centres. These typography also mimics the typography style of the logo mark to tie in the brand logo with it’s application. the white text stands out against the black imagery making it easy to read as well making links to other pages clear and obvious.
About [Above] As the website has little content and the sites purpose is more the get people interested in working with the firm and starting a dialogue with them I decided to make all the content accessible from the homepage so users don’t have to keep moving between pages, I achieve this by having contact slide out over the main content of the page, which can be seen above in that the about text slides out in a drawer from the top of the website.
BRIEF 9: CREED
DESIGN
DEFINE
DESIGN
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Contact [Above] Similarly to how the about content slides out from the top of the page the contact information also does the same, this means users wanting to quickly get to this information don’t need to wait for the page to loads as ultimately this information is key to getting Creed talking to clients that want to invest with them.
Mobile [Left] The website transisitions well onto mobile and the design has been adapted to fit a portrait device format rather than landscape meaning typography flows vertically rather than horizontally. Content still uses slider on mobile meaning the same experience is present everywhere. It’s important that the site works consistently across desktop and mobile as, as much of 70% of the traffic to the website will initally be through a mobile device as the site is going to be promoted on Twitter and Facebook and people discover these links on smartphone rather than on desktop.
BRIEF 9: CREED
DESIGN
DEFINE
DESIGN
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