Before teaming up with Gantz, Ispolink already had a great business idea, validated by data and research. But to be successful on the market they needed more. A solid branding and a strong visual identity would help them trigger a wider adoption as the standard for web3 hiring and become the go-to recruitment platform for web3 talents and companies. The mainy question was: What's the best approach to get the business started from scratch?

Creating a solid brand strategy is a crucial part of the business building process. To develope a proper brand strategy it's important to figure out what the basic business values are and how they can be communicated to potential customers. In multiple workshops with the Ispolink team we developed brand attributes, user personas, user journeys and more, using proven design sprint methods. Based on the knowledge gained we created Ispolinks brand strategy and articulated their message in a way their audience can easily understand it and can relate to Ispolinks values and goals.

When starting a business it's always important to figure out what the basic business strategy should look. Creating a solid brand is a crucial part of the process and helps to define the business. Crucial part of a proper brand strategy is to find out what the basic business values are and how they can be communicated to potential customers. In multiple workshops with the Ispolink team, we developed the brand attributes, user personas, user journeys and more, using proven design sprint methods. Based on the knowledge gained, we created the brand strategy and brand messaging. Together with the team we developed a clear business vision and goals and articulated them in a way their audience can easily understand and relate to them.

Based on brand strategy and messaging, we developed a visual design and communication system for Ispolink. As an innovative blockchain start-up with a SaaS concept, a visual appearance corresponding to the contemporary design in the software service industry was needed. Attributes such as trustworthiness and security are inherent of blockchain technology and needed to be expressed in the design. The created company logo also picks up the theme of being connected. Overall a clean, slightly technical style, still with the customer and a human connection in mind is the basis of Ispolinks corporate design.

The business website is one of the major touch points of the user journey. It defines if a visitor becomes a customer.  Therefore, Ispolinks website needed to communicate clearly the brands vision and messaging, as well as what the products and services offered are and how they can improve the customers lives. In Ispolinks case, it was clear that there are two very different groups of customers: On the one hand web3 talents looking for a job, and on the other hand companies looking for talents to hire. The specific needs of those groups needed to be addressed and communicated in different ways. That's why I decided to use the secondary colors from Ispolinks color palette to clearly separate the content visually. That way the user can quickly distinguish between content for job seekers and companies. I also created subpages for each group to prevent content getting mixed up.

As Ispolink provides a complex match making engine and a platform to source tech talents, creating a satisfying user experience was key for the success of the product. Connecting all aspects and features of the application and structuring the users workflow was crucial. Making complex and rich applications understandable and easy to use is always the goal to provide a great user experience to the customers. After structuring the user journey together with the team, we created a visual representation of the userflow to make clear how the user will navigate from point A to B. After that we visualized the basic structures and elements of the interface as wireframes: Simple representations of the interface which show the basic features. Do we need a button there? Or a checkbox here? Does the user interact with this element? Or is the information read only? Questions like this were answered in this step.

In this step the Identity Design and the User Experience did come together to form the aesthetic of the actual product and user interface. After defining what Ispolink is in it's core all about and what will be needed for a satisfying user experience, the visual appearance of the platform itself came into focus.What colors will be used for which kind of element of the UI? How will a button look like? What kind of icons will be suitable for what pupose? Sharp edges or rounded corners? And what does that communicate to the user? Does it fit the overall brand strategy and identity design? Does the UI serve the different user types properly?