Decred | Blockchain, open-source software

I joined Decred in 2016, when the project was still finding its shape. The first job was to give an open-source currency a visual language people could use and build on.

The DCR mark needed to work as a currency symbol: quick to recognise, easy to draw and useful at any size.

We rolled out the identity in 2017. Its rules were simple enough for contributors to pick up, with room for the project to grow without every new piece looking unrelated.

The system had to hold together across:

communication

interfaces

contributor-built tools

It started with the brand, then reached the wallet, governance tools and the many things contributors made around them. Shared components and guidelines helped more than twenty people work from the same base.

The aim was a useful structure. Enough order to make things coherent, enough room for others to take part.

That base carried through several releases. We kept refining the details as the product and the team changed.

The DCR symbol is an ambigram. It reads when turned or mirrored, and its construction makes it practical in type, interfaces and the small spaces a currency mark has to live in.

The design system grew with the work. We made assets and rules contributors could actually use, then carried that thinking into Decrediton, Politeia and the shared interface library.

The main site changed more than once as Decred matured. Each pass made the project easier to explain, especially to people arriving without a deep crypto background.

There was a lot beyond the core UI: illustrations, motion for releases and, later, a shared language of 3D forms. Different hands made them, but they belonged to the same project.

I co-authored the identity and led design for Decred, first through EETER and later across the wider project. That meant doing the work, setting direction and helping contributors keep it consistent.

Credits

Design Lead: Tanel August Lind

Design: Sander M., Jani R.

Illustration: Kärt Koosapoeg, Marcel Lustosa

Motion: BOP (Sander Joon, Mikk Mägi), Kyle Chivers 3D: 30000fps

Development: Mykolas Raižys

Case Study 01: Identity and Design Development for a Digital Currency

Case Study 02: DCR Logo Performance Update

Github: /dcrdesign

Animation library: https://lottiefiles.com/decred Figma: Identity and Visual comms. guidelines Case study: https://www.ta-lind.com/decred