Know Main Street’s moves before they’re Wall Street news
Roles
Industry
Finance, fin-tech, investing, publication
Year
2023
creative direction
brand identity development
UI/UX design
copywriting
marketing
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How do you create a dynamic identity for a new platform powered by a tool that already has an established audience?
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Design a brand identity that differentiates itself from other software-based startups while staying true to the founder’s ideals. Then, in developing a site that supports a variety of content types that acts as a hub for subscriber-based content.
Defining a Brand
The final version of the logo pulls visual cues from other software-based startups. A quirky sans-serif with slab-like terminals adds personality and southern charm to an otherwise clean geometric typeface.
However, early iterations of the logo leaned more towards the Louisville aesthetic. Ultimately, it was more important that the logo reflect the modernity of the tool itself rather than the history behind the moniker.
Building out a dynamic franchise
The branding for Derby City Insights was intentionally constructed to be modular by nature. Individual products within the franchise pull heavily from the established brand identity.
Creating a site that performs
This platform leverages Likefolio's system of pulling in social media prominence across popular social media sites, and presents editorial content in a way that is relevant to current market movements.
This means the site needed to act as a content hub for both free and paid subscribers, in addition to creating meaningful ways of converting new users into Derby City Insights subscribers.
Quick connections on the homepage
The main CTA encourages new users to subscribe to any one of Derby City Insight’s franchises, while free content is dynamically pulled into the homepage to feature key stories and prime users to the kinds of content they can expect to receive as a paying subscriber.
A post-login experience designed for community
A dark-mode designed header helps differentiate the free environment from the paid environment. Within the logged in environment, subscribers can toggle between any given features of their service or even between the different services they may be subscribed to.
A robust digital experience with mobile in mind
While a majority of subscribers proved to be consistent desktop users, the mobile experience of Derby City Insights prioritized maintaining access to content even when on the go. Designing editorial content for mobile means optimizing for scalability and scanability.
