Element Finance

Overview
Brand Identity
Responsive Web Design
Email & Social Program Buildout

Role
Sr. Visual Designer
Nov 2020 - Nov 2021

A lack of capital can often be an inhibiting factor for growth in companies, so Element Finance was created to provide straightforward financing for SaaS business such as Chargify, Earth Class Mail, and even Athletic Greens.

While working as the Visual Designer for parent company Scaleworks, I was responsible for rebranding Element and building out their primary digital channels across email, social, and thought leadership. While there was an initial design to work off of, I knew I needed to modernize the brand and create more excitement to appeal to the young tech founders of today.

Out with the old, in with the new.

Initial discussions with the CEO led me to understand that Element Finance had a number of clients under their belt, so he wanted to keep a familiarity within the existing design. I was already drawn to the geometric mark from the original logo, so I had no problem retaining that as a key visual element to the rebrand.

A thorough market analysis showed the persistence of sharp corners and imagery of an older generation, which was typical of what one expects when thinking of finance. Knowing that Element’s core persona was intellectual entrepreneurs aged 35-48, I decided to take a tech-forward approach and utilize the soft edges of the mark towards the updated branding.

Logo rebrand vs. original design

Trusted & approachable color palette rebrand

Financing the future of SaaS.

Once the rebrand was approved by the CEO and all Scaleworks Partners, my next role was to design the UI of a new website. The UX would generally remain the same, and was to be re-developed by the same agency that created the first site while utilizing me to design the front end – a move to cut costs on the total project.

In collaboration with members of the agency, we made slight changes to the sitemap and wireframes so I could quickly incorporate the new look into a high-fidelity prototype. The project was under a very short timeline to launch, but I went back to refine the new identity with a visual system that slightly contrasted the rebranded logo – adding some abstract elements and textured iconography. This decision paid dividends, as I was able to swiftly design a beautiful, friendly, and contemporary UI that welcomed new visitors to this new approach to finance. Both the agency and Scaleworks Partners were quick to sign off, which allowed me to apply this across an email marketing program that I set up through Hubspot, as well as customer-facing social accounts and a well-received thought leadership blog.