The WhiteSwap brand identity centers around Vincent, a 3D alien mascot embodying rebellion and leadership, designed with neon and acid colors to evoke a cyberpunk aesthetic. Vincent’s distinctive features, such as his scruffy fringe, visible fangs, and space suit, are complemented by arrow-shaped ears that reference the original logo’s symbolism of quick and easy crypto exchange. This cohesive visual language extends across all brand materials, ensuring a consistent and engaging presence in the DeFi space.
Design system for DEX white.swap
The WhiteSwap branding project developed a distinctive DeFi identity featuring Vincent, a 3D alien mascot symbolizing rebellion and leadership, paired with a neon-accented logo and cyberpunk-inspired visuals.
Key visuals
Challenges
Developing WhiteSwap’s brand identity involved creating a distinctive and relatable character that encapsulated the platform’s values of decentralization and innovation. The challenge was to design Vincent, the alien mascot, in a way that resonated with the DeFi community while differentiating WhiteSwap from competitors. Additionally, integrating Vincent into the logo and overall brand identity required a balance between maintaining the technical essence of the platform and introducing a bold, cyberpunk-inspired visual style to captivate the target audience.
Here’s what we did:
Mascot
Reimagining DeFi: a bold identity for WhiteSwap with Vincent the alien
We conducted a fundamental analysis of similar projects, and the first thing we noticed was the use of different virtual characters. DeFi is about anonymity, decentralization, self-management, and flexibility. So, we decided to use a convenient communication tool to broadcast these messages.
We started with a mascot and built the brand’s identity around it.
WhiteSwap had to be represented by someone who goes against the system like Tyler Durden. Someone who busts myths and dismantles stereotypes about the financial system. That’s how we created Vincent, CEO and the main ideologist of WhiteSwap.
Vincent is an alien and a representative of a highly developed race. He is very intelligent and has come here to share secrets of decentralization, captivate people with these ideas, and lead them to the world of DeFi.
The mascot is a rebel and a leader, which is reflected in his look: he has a scruffy fringe and visible fangs. We used Funko Pop toys as a reference, added some neon to the color scheme, and dressed him in a space suit.
We created Vincent in 3D to be able to adapt him to various promotional materials.
Logo
A bold emblem: blending identity and innovation
The technical side of the project stayed the same, but we changed the communication style. That’s why it was important for us to show this in the brand identity.
The old logo had arrows that symbolized quick and easy crypto exchange.
Since Vincent embodies WhiteSwap, we decided to add him to the logo as well.
And we continued with the acid color scheme. The logo colors are Lime #D6FB6D and White #FFFFFF.
Since the text is a less important part of the logo, we created a few minimalistic versions.
Brand Identity
Colors
We used neon and acid colors to give the product a cyberpunk vibe. We also thought the mascot needed space tools affected by extreme temperatures to make him more realistic. These are the gradients you see.
We took these pictures as a reference and started using gradients of these colors in the brand identity.
This style was also used for the native token, WSD, and other projects.
Font
The TT Hoves font was selected for the brand identity because it’s functional enough and fits the space theme.
Here’s how we scaled up:
Content
At first, we needed to introduce the new visual style to the users, so we created a few motion videos with the mascot.
We have also prepared a starter pack of visuals for the first posts.
Insights
Even if a product is technically perfect, you might need to go a long way to boost its recognition and express its philosophy. And that’s where brand identity comes into play. For example, a mascot can’t be just beautifully designed. It has to broadcast the project’s values and ideas and be the central element of the brand identity.
