Let’s get Visual

Exploring creative and visual territories for the Questbook brand

Branding is thinking about where we want to go. Not where we are right now.

But first, a quick recap:

• Our brand platform is ‘We, the builders’. We exist to build more, together with the world.
• Our mission is to get more builders to build the web3 infrastructure, and the future of decentralisation.
• People think of us as a learning/ed-tech platform. This is limiting for us. We’d like to change our brand’s positioning, and accordingly its perception.
• Our immediate focus and the centrepiece of the Questbook ecosystem will be the decentralised grants orchestration tool.

Key themes of our Brand Platform

Build more, together.

• Build: Speaks of action, but also impact. By building and contributing to the tech infrastructure of web3, developers have a unique opportunity to create immense impact.
• More: Alludes to the outcome of composability, and how it allows for developers to create bigger pies. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
• Together: Triggers notions and models for collaboration and community. Developers build great things together with the community.

In other words, the creative territories we went on to explore lean on these adjectives of Questbook:

• Composable;
• Collaborative; and
• Impactful.

Each, complete with its visual (logomark, colour, visual system, etc.) and verbal voice (brand values, key messaging, tone of voice, etc.)

Composability

This territory dove deep into the idea of composability and explored how, much like simple Lego bricks, composable blocks have the power to guide you to build from infrastructure to infinity.

Questbook, here, is a representation of the building blocks that form the tech infrastructure of web3. The composable nature of our brand is a fundamental part of our vision. It is our function to help developers build more together. Everything from the logomark to typographic choices was designed keeping this in mind.

Territory values

• Modular: Simple, geometric and reusable shapes that form graphics and the overall brand.
• Community first: An easy-to-use brand system, focused on utility and openness for the community and quick adopters to get involved.
• Future-facing: Design choices created and curated to lead the user into the exciting and bright future of the web.

Collaboration

This territory visualised the coming together of diverse people and ideas to build and realise the promise of web3, decentralisation and community. Using warmer colours, soft gradients, noise and texture, this territory intended to give the Questbook brand a sense of being connected, collaborative, and coordinated.

The brand voice and key messaging here were about togetherness. Together, we go far. Together, we build more.

Territory values

• Generative: Curious and driven individuals come together to generate more curiosity and drive together.
• Connected: The cooperation and collaboration of builders create the future of tech.
• Movement: The flow and progress of seeking and doing more, together.

Impact

This brings us to the final direction we went ahead with.

Territory values

• Impact: Building infrastructural tools and tech that allows developers to create impact and leave a mark.
• Identity and Pride: The identity and overall direction allow for the Questbook community and the broader community of developers and builders to proudly wear their skills.
• Hero’s Journey: The developer is the protagonist in this aspirational journey to build the future of decentralisation and the web at large.

This post marks the end of the Brand, Builders and Web3 series, where we first started documenting the process and stories behind designing Questbook’s brand in the open.

A few s/o(s) and notes of thanks: Madhavan and the Questbook team, for collaborating and experimenting with me on this very special project and its process. And Divya Sankar, for her help with writing and editing.

We’ll be launching Questbook’s brand-new brand identity, in its final evolution, next. So, follow along here.

Until then, no more spoilers. See you on the flip side!