Crafting an Impact: The Hedge & Alpha Branding Story :: Behance

"The Hedge and Alpha Company Ltd" (trading with just "Hedge and Alpha"), is a strong and distinctive name that conveys a sense of security and expertise in the world of investment. Hedge and Alpha is a financial services firm that allows you access investment options that significantly reduce the risk of losing your money. They explore alternative investment solutions and leverage technology to help their clients get greater value for their money. They cater to individuals, institutions and businesses alike. Their process is driven by an endless pursuit to understand how the world’s markets and economies work. The technology they adapt and expertise they have helps them validate universal investment principles and effortlessly execute our clients’ needs. The brand vision is to be the leading Africa-focused investment firm for traditional and alternative investments for both retail and institutional clients, sets a clear direction for the company and positions it as a forward-thinking and ambitious player in the market. The brand values are of ethics and impact investing, as well as the safety of clients' investments, align with the company's commitment to responsible investing and its focus on creating value for all stakeholders.

BRAND ARCHETYPE The brand archetype that is most closely aligned with The Hedge and Alpha Company Ltd is the Caregiver. This archetype is characterized by a focus on caring for others, providing support and protection, and creating a sense of security and trust. This aligns closely with the company's focus on promoting trust and ethics in the African investment environment, and its commitment to safety and responsible investing. By positioning itself as a caring and supportive partner that is dedicated to helping its clients achieve their investment goals, the company can differentiate itself from its competitors and establish itself as a trusted and reliable partner in the market. The 2nd brand archetype that is also most suitable for The Hedge and Alpha Company Ltd is the "Innovation Leader." This archetype is characterized by a focus on innovation, technology, and progress. It is a powerful and inspiring brand archetype that can help the company differentiate itself from its competitors and position itself as a leader in the investment industry.

CONCEPT From our discussion with the client, we were able to map out the following words: trust, safety, ethics, ranking, leaderboard, investment, innovation. The trust and safety section were chosen as research nodes to represent our font choice as we will go for a sans serif type. Sans serif are know to be associated to safety, reliability and trust. They are also considered modern - this help convey the innovation & technology part of the company. Other words that we looked at is "Leaderboard" which is related to “Ranking” and also attached to the meaning of “Alpha”. We also picked inspiration from the letter H of “Hedge”. With all the above, we were able to come up with a distinct mark for the brand as shown below - one whose origin is attached and aligns with the brand.

VISUAL ELEMENTS Investment is mostly built around diversification of portfolio. This inspired the idea behind the ray element shown below - designed to represent the idea of Hedge and Alpha managing and building the user's portfolio. Several other graphical symbols were created to represent security, community, balance and trust - all to aid Hedge and Alpha's graphics and also make it distinct.

3-DIMENSIONAL ASSETS After our research around the Hedge and Alpha messaging, we came up with several 3D concepts to communicate the message. We also created them having it in mind that we will love to use them on the website - this will in-turn make the website not just beautiful but also interactive. It will also enhance the user experience.

HEDGE & ALPHA WEBSITE "Simple, Straighforward and clear" The Hedge and Alpha demography consist of users between the age of 25 - 60. Our research made us realize that a part of this audience is concerned about functionality while the other part is concerned about functionality but majorly aesthetics i.e if it's not looking good, they most likely won't bother trying out the product. Keeping this in mind, we designed a website that appeals to both set of audience. We made it simple such that the message being passed is gotten almost immediately and with the stunning 3D motion, we are able to enhance our user experience in such a way that keeps the user engaged while going through the website. View the live website here. ​​​​​​​

CREDITS Our goal with every of our project is to always build an identity that stands out and make the brand more self aware of who they are and what they can accomplish. We've been able to do that with Hedge and Alpha as well and this is to say thanks to everyone that's part of the project. Creative Direction, Brand Identity, Strategy, Visual Design, Motion - Farouq Osuolale Logo Animation, 3D Modelling & Animation - Chizzy James Website UXUI Design - Farouq Osuolale Copywriting - Fasilat Ojoogun