Every Raise Is a Campaign
Studio work at Portal, for The Crowd, 2024 Launched, 2024
Strategy:
Raising money from a crowd is mostly a communications problem. The Crowd works the campaign beside the founder rather than handing over a login, and the identity had to look like that kind of company.
Design:
The identity, across the site, the posters and the apparel. A knotted iridescent symbol, and a palette named on the brand’s own page: Highlighter, Ocean, Denim, Space, Paper.
Leadership:
Studio work at Portal, credited that way. The learning platform grew from its first client to more than a dozen.
Product in Hand
A knot that changes color.
A knotted symbol, iridescent, so it reads one color on a hoodie under concrete and another on a poster set into ivy. Keeping it recognisable was the hard part.
Product in Life
Learn the raise first.
A first-time founder learns the mechanics on the platform, then runs the campaign with The Crowd beside them. The site is written to backers who care what the company is for.
Campaign objects
Merch that talks the founder up.
A Daily Affirmations card box, a ‘Radiant Ripple’ card, a lime card and a holographic sticker. The knot holds its color shift at sticker size.
Brand book
The guidelines, in one pass.
The book fixes the knot, the four lockups, the five named colors and the type, then shows the system on a hoodie, a cap, a notebook and a tote. A campaign kit before the campaign.
Product in Culture
The founder is the media.
Equity crowdfunding lets a company sell shares to people who already believe in it. The raise is a campaign before it is a transaction. Most founders have never run one.
The learning platform, a product line outside the services work.
Head of Brand & Product at Portal
Identity, web, apparel
The Crowd
Launched, 2024