Case Study: Satsback. Example of Blockchain Brand Development

Identity design for crypto service

Published in

UX Planet

7 min readJan 24, 2022

This case illustrates how a brand is born and develops. We were contacted by a client who initially wanted a logo redesign. But in the process of collaborating, we decided to take it a step further and developed a visual identity that helped the company achieve its objectives and became the basis for advancing the brand.

Let’s take a closer look at how the Satsback brand design was developed.

1. Research

Even the most basic work on visuals begins with data collection and analysis. It’s crucial to understand the company’s goals and market positioning, to learn as much as possible about the audience and the competition. This helps to think strategically and expands the framework of ideas.

Input data:

Company

Satsback is a platform that helps users earn bitcoin rewards for making online purchases.

Company mission & goals

Helping people utilize new financial opportunities, making bitcoin accumulation easy and accessible to anyone. Expanding the audience, growing together in business.

Company image

Futuristic, cosmic, simple, courageous, rebellious.

Audience

Higher than average earning, well-educated millennials that are interested in new technologies and bitcoin. Early adopters are people who already own bitcoin and are interested in it.

2. Logo development

So, we began with the logo. Here’s the old one, which required a redesign:

The first thing we did was identify the idea, the underlying concept of the logo. It had to be simple and minimalistic, it had to broadcast the ideas and messages of the Satsback brand and to encapsulate its essence. We did not discuss the color palette at that stage.

Here are some intermediate ideas and sketches:

Ultimately, we chose a simple and stylish version that was the most appropriate to the company’s ideas and goals:

Meanings of the new logo:

the symbol contains an inverted S as a reference to the company’s name;
it carries the idea of cyclicity/return (the user makes purchases and receives a cashback);
the chain shape illustrates the connection between the user and the company and between the user and their goal (bitcoin);
the symbol reflects the continuous and concurrent nature of the process;
it’s associated with round coins and blockchain;
it can be subliminally read as “Go”;
it looks visually balanced, dynamic, modern;
it grabs attention (the user wants to “puzzle out” the symbol’s meaning).

We rejected the bitcoin symbol in favor of the uniqueness of the Satsback brand itself.

3. Motivation for brand development

What makes this case so notable? Some companies limit themselves to just the logo. But it’s like inviting guests over to your place and showing them a new door. Once you step inside, there’s just general chaos and peeling wallpaper, but hey, at least the door looks nice!

Our client had the foresight to go beyond the “door.” Their company had recently merged with another one, so the brand platform had changed accordingly. Changes within the company required new concepts, new marketing, and a new visual identity. These things had to be actualized, with the company presenting a new image to the world and a new set of opportunities for users.

In the process of collaboration, clients and designers inspire one another to seek out new ideas. For the client, this is always a great chance to get a clearer understanding of the direction their brand should take. For the designers, it’s a useful “immersion”: they start thinking wider and deeper, looking for new ideas and design solutions.

4. Identity concept

A brand is the sum of images, values, associations, and emotions that occur when people come into contact with it. We needed to find visual metaphors that would be in tune with the brand’s positioning, its idea and uniqueness. These would generate interest in the brand.

Here are the images, ideas, and feelings that Satsback seeks to broadcast: Courageousness. Future. Outer space. Mystery. Opportunities.

These ideas served as the starting point for our work on the brand and its visual representation, the brand identity.

color palette

Digital currency is associated with a particular set of visuals. Today it’s all about the dark theme and flashy neon colors. It’s a bold, daring, “spacey” visual which represents future technologies. This was the visual that corresponded to the essence of the brand and the expectations of the target audience.

We ultimately settled on a color palette based on the aurora. (This was our client’s idea, and it was a good one!) Neon greens bleeding into a black-blue color of the night sky.

color idea

main colors

The color doesn’t merely create a mood and an atmosphere. It guides both the client’s and the designer’s vision, helping to develop the idea further.

fonts

We chose the Inter typeface. It fits in well with the overall design and reflects the key values of the brand: simplicity and clarity, but also reliability and rigor.

5. Brand book

In creating the brand book, we sought to structure the information and identify any problems and oversights. But our main objective was to arrive at a comprehensive brand vision.

The Satsback brand book describes the company’s goals and values and establishes rules for using its visual identity. We have systematized all the brand info in one document, standardized the use of corporate style elements for printed and digital media, social media design, and swag design.

cover

contents

about

brand mission

brand values

corporate style

social media use

email templates

banners

stickers

merch

Results

The new Satsback visual identity has allowed the company to fit into its niche, meet the expectations of the target audience, and project a modern and attractive image. The brand appears seamlessly integrated on every level and in every channel of communication with the users, breeding trust and a desire to interact.

Certain stages of brand development only exist as an ideal. You’re supposed to start with the ideas and then move on to the visuals. But that doesn’t always work in real life. This case is a good example. Quite often, the client has no clear idea of the brand beyond a vague initial vision. But as work progresses, information accumulates and becomes structured, visible and meaningful goals emerge and take shape. All this forms the basis for the brand’s further growth and development.