The Blockchain Institute Brand Identity
The Blockchain Institute built courses (with instructor guides) on how blockchain technology works, all under a Creative Commons license so that anyone anywhere could teach the courses. Starting from the ground up, the Institute needed to develop its entire brand identity, from voice to courseware to merchandising.
Date
H1 2023
Role
Product Designer
Company
Sonatype
The Problem
Blockchain WTF was a blockchain and cryptocurrency news blog that decided to pivot into the educational non-profit space and rebrand as The Blockchain Institute.
I was brought on as a freelancer to design the initial Blockchain Institute logo, and subsequently hired to create the visual identity for the non-profit and its website, WeTeachBlockchain.org.
The Objectives & Key Results
Create a thoroughly documented identity for all instances of the TBI brand, including brand colors, illustration styles, fonts, and verbiage/voice
Design reusable components and patterns to be used by the website
Assist the developers and writers in the creation and maintenance of both brand and website
Craft promotion for the website with as wide a reach as possible
The Process
The first step was to perform a competitor analysis among other websites in the blockchain/cryptocurrency space, as well as other educational sites like Lynda.com (now LinkedIn Learning). Then, stakeholder interviews were held to gather feedback about the growing identity of the business and how the brand should represent it.
A style guide was constructed, starting with the Brand Voice and the Blockchain Institute Logo. The logo had initially been designed to represent the more professional side of a non-profit identity, which conflicted somewhat with the Brand Voice the writers had settled on. This was one constraint we had to navigate, and would lead to a larger change later on. Additionally, the brand guide gave design and implementation instructions for foundational elements like color, typography and imagery to design atoms, molecules, and templates for website components, course designs, and merchandise.
As we constructed the website - which hosted blogs, courses, events listings, and instructor guides - we realized that we needed an updated logo to reflect the youthful, conversational tone that had been developing. Card sorting was used to brainstorm on a name, and We Teach Blockchain was chosen. A set of new logo designs was tested with the organization, donors, board, and potential users, and a clear favorite emerged.
It was at this step that a round of usability testing was performed with five participants. This allowed us to discover some problematic user flows, specifically around wayfinding. Edits were made, and the site was launched.
Subsequently, market research was performed to determine the best way to promote the site, with the most cost-effective (relative lower cost, high eyeball rate) solution being an advertisement on Chicago public transit.
The Solution
WeTeachBlockchain.org was launched in 2020 with a comprehensive brand identity, as well as the last minute add of an Ambassador program. Users started presenting courses on their own all across the world, and our in-house writers began using the brand guidelines to promote sessions in our coworking space.
The Results
As a result, we saw:
Glowing feedback from investors
Participation in the Ambassador program in 25+ countries
An advertising campaign that reached 2.3 million Chicagoans
Sadly, the organization folded in late 2021 due to a lack of funding. The website is still live, but has, as such, degraded over time.
