5-cents – Valuable advice on hand
The National Bank of Slovakia, in cooperation with the NBS Institute of Banking Education, approached us with a request to create a logo, visual identity and website design for the new 5-cents financial education platform.
The 5-cents platform was created to help people build the right relationship with money and educate them so that they can better protect, control and manage their finances. In an effort to help the public navigate the world of money, the platform provides useful content in the form of news, opinions, expert recommendations and interviews with celebrities. The platform also wants to attract students, especially in the form of educataional projects, materials, tests, videos and other interactive forms.
Five out of five for the new logo
The basic starting point for creating a logo and visual identity has become an iconic, easily recognizable hand symbol that has no geographical, demographic or social limitations. The outstretched hand represents the number five, but it is also a basic element for creating, counting, distributing and spending money. The construction of the pictogram respects the principles of the golden ratio, which gives the logo an attractive and natural shape for the human eye. In addition, the hand symbol is modified to form the number five in the combination of the palm and the negative space between the fingers.
Tailor-made typography
An important component of the logo and visual identity of the 5-cents platform is the striking typography we have created in cooperation with the renowned Slovak typographic designer, Ondrej Jób. The specific lines of the 5-cents font are formed by one-sided rounded lines of selected characters and a characteristic bevel of numbers, which gives the font its unique expression and form.
Color that adds credit
From the point of view of color, the platform of 5-cents seamlessly follows the color of the organizations that encompass it. The main and complementary colors copy the primary palette of the National Bank of Slovakia and thus clearly connect it with the 5-cents platform, thanks to which the brand gains momentum and a certain social credit. Specific color combinations in the visuals are assigned to selected target groups that the platform wants to address with its activities, which increases the level of visual consistency of the brand and simplifies navigation in its color system.
Revised set of icons
The 5-cents platform actively communicates a wide range of financial topics, for a diverse audience across many communication channels. To ensure clear and comprehensible communication of such an extensive agenda, it was therefore important to create a set of icons that would clearly distinguish these topics and channels and allow the recipient to easily navigate them. Tailor-made icons are based on the basic pictogram of an open hand, while respecting the principles of thick single-sided rounded lines and the use of the simplest but clearly recognizable shapes.
The visuality of the brand in one place
We have summarized all the components of the visual identity and the logo, together with the rules of their use, in a practical document (logo and design of the manual). This should help the brand to communicate consistently in all circumstances, across all online and offline means of communication.
Attractive sound with regard to the future
A modern brand must think ahead. Not only in a matter of two or three years, but also the challenges it might face in ten years and beyond. For the 5-cents platform, we have designed attractive sound branding for the future, thanks to which it has acquired its specific sound, which will help it to easily differentiate itself in the era of virtual assistants, podcasts and other audiovisual formats. The proposed sound is a custom-made composition of five distinctive tones representing the number five and a metallic reverberation simulating the sound of falling coins.
Distinctive visuality with modern elements
We also developed the idea of a hand and fingers from a logo in the design of visuals. The distinctive diagonal, which runs through the entire design, motivically follows the specific design of the hand and symbolizes a finger (index finger) pointing to the title, icon or other important elements. The color of the diagonal always reflects the affiliation of the target group for which the visual is intended. An alternative to using central photography is to use a distinctive icon in a tonal transition (so-called gradient) from the basic blue to the selected complementary color.
The appearance of social networks and attractive merch
We have also extended the visuality of the newly created platform to classic elements, such as the design of correspondence, rollups, an information brochure, a presentation template or business cards. In the design manual, we also defined the appearance of online banners and posts on social networks, the tonality of photos or attractive merch.
Branding of training rooms
We also transferred the branding platforms from standard materials to the interior of training rooms, which will be used to educate students, seniors and the general public. We used various print formats for the design, from isolated visuals, posters and large-format photo walls to wallpapers with icons that cover larger parts of the training rooms. We have also provided navigation elements that unify the space and simplify the orientation of visitors.
An information-packed web portal
One of the key components of the 5-cents platform is also an attractive and informative web portal. Its main task is to combine all the information from the experts and co-creators of the platform into one clear and easily accessible source. The portal contains options for the implementation of quizzes or an extensive information section with articles and news from the field of banking, financing, savings and investments.
