Brand Design
Creative Direction
upshot.xyz
Brand Strategy
As creative director of Upshot since 2021, I built the brand identity from ground up, overseeing two major company pivots and eventually culminating in this comprehensive identity. Designing the brand was an act of iterative play. I evolved the visual identity to meet the changing needs of the company and the web3 space, while still maintaining it's distinct and recognizable qualities. Upshot is an agile brand, expanding into different verticals as it's technology evolves, allowing me to build a variety of experiences and stories for different people and purposes.
UPSHOT
Upshot has a system of “planets” that act as individual units from which to build worlds out of. These planets are a tool to expand on concepts and projects we are developing in the DeFi x NFT space.
The Upshot Universe
Upshot has a limited, vibrant color palette applied to flat, vector graphics, with a nod to ‘90s and early ‘00s cartoon and comic aesthetics that lends a human touch to an otherwise technical landscape. It’s designed to create a visually rich story without being overwhelming or stuffy, as many of the visuals in the NFT and DeFI space tend to be.
Visual Identity
The synthesis consists of separate, distinct visual elements that, at their convergence, reveal something new and exciting.
The conceptual illustration suggests an intersectional space between two separate, distinct environments wherein Upshot and its values live.
The explosion depicts the concept of “innovation at the intersection” by illustrating some kind of explosive, expressive graphic at a pressure point.
Synthesis
Conceptual
Explosion
Upshot Narrative Strategies
Once a planet is designed, we can take the visual elements of that planet design and expand it into a vibrant world to help tell different stories. Here, we see both the larger planet and a splice of life on that planet, which function to tell different stories. The story of the first planet is about liquidity and growth. You can see liquids traveling through portals and various plants growing. The second planet was designed to explain NFT collecting at a high level. The splice of life shows a family of NFTs living as a collection on the planet.
Zooming
Once a planet is designed, we can take the visual elements of that planet design and expand it into a vibrant world.
For instance, the planet below features telescoping craters. These craters represent “homes” for all of the life and “liquidity” on the planet. By treating these craters as both vessels for life and liquidity, as well as portals between spaces, we transform the planet into an expansive world.
GMI is Upshot's grading index for NFT wallets. The planet for the GMI world increases in complexity and visual richness as the GMI of the user increases. Essentially, we've created a system to generate micro-identities for different wallets, allowing people to own and share their gmi status, as well as identify smart collectors in the space.
GMI
As an integral part of the NFT space, Upshot is immersed in the world of art, design, and technology culture. The logo is designed to reflect that.
Upshot is financial infrastructure for NFTs. They provide industry-leading NFT appraisals and other financial tools provide deep insight into NFT markets and unlock a wave of new DeFi possibilities.
