Brand, Print, and Website Design

Background 

Merit is a new company looking for print/digital branding and website design. They hired me as the sole UX/UI and print designer to help them create their print branding & digital communications.

Objective

Needs print branding & website design

View live site.

Logo & Color Exploration

Merit was looking for a logo that would signify trust and quality while maintaining a current yet timeless aesthetic. To signify these traits I chose to play with the shape of a shield, lighting bolt, and/or circle. The shield represents trust, the circle represents coins, and the lightening bolt represents the quickness of their services.

The final horizontal/vertical logos use the shield and lightening bolt.

Color Palette

Creating a color palette that aligned with the branding of emerging fintech companies while also maintaining uniqueness was crucial. To accomplish this, I created two mood boards of different color pairings. One consisted of blue and yellow, while the other featured purple, mint green, and yellow. While presenting to the CEO & team, I explained the characteristics that each color represents. Although the blue and yellow pairing was well-received, they expressed concern about its similarity to other fintech brands colors. To find create the uniqueness they were looking for I suggested pairing a purple-blue and yellow fusion that effectively captures Merit's unique identity.

Mood Boards

Final Color Palette

Typography

I created the logo using Montserrat because it is a strong font. In efforts to match the logo’s font and give the brand a consistent and cohesive tone, I decided to also use Montserrat for the headings. I chose Source Sans Pro for the body and buttons because of its excellent legibility for print and web. Additionally, its curved edges complement the rounded characters of Montserrat.

Icons

Elements

It was important to create decorative assets that help establish the strong, quality, and current brand tone. I created patterns out of diamonds because they signify wealth and are similar shapes to shields. I also created a pattern made of the 3D shield logo (right).

Collateral

The collateral needed to be simple and sleek. The purple triangle corner design is throughout the brand’s collatral and merch. I created this swoop like design to resemble part of the shield’s curve.

Merch

Brand Style Guide

I created a 61 page Brand Style Guide that consists of all the above elements.
It also includes:

• Logo Color Variations

• Logo Background Control & Placement

• Logo Common Errors

• Lockup Assembly for all logo forms

  (horizontal, vertical, icon, wordmark)

• Company Background & Brand Definition

• Photography

• Responsive Grids (web)

UI Kit

I also created a UI Kit that consists of all the above elements (besides the printed assets).
It also includes:

• Buttons

• Nav bar

• Animation

• Banner

• Photos

• Photo Treatments

• Illustrations

• Landing Page Layouts

Presentation Template

Splash Page

Website

The website is short and sweet because Merit is a new business that is still developing its team and services. There are a few key sections showcasing it’s services, I added jump links in the navigation to make this information easy to locate for the user.

Conclusion

Designing Merit's branding and website was not without its challenges but overall it was a positive experience. Now, Merit has a brand voice that is supported by a strong visual identity and a clean website that reflects the brand tone. Merit's team was very happy with the project outcome.