Aura Platform · 2023
Making a fintech startup feel like an institution
A complete brand overhaul for a fintech startup, balancing trust and approachability.
- Surfaces unified under one system
- 6
- Design review cycle
- 60% faster
- Compliance sign-off
- 1 pass
Where it started
Aura needed to look safe enough to hold someone's savings and modern enough to justify existing. The original identity achieved neither, applying a startup gradient to a product that handled retirement accounts.
What we did about it
- 1
Borrow authority, not aesthetics
We studied what actually reads as trustworthy in financial interfaces, which is density, precision and restraint in motion, then applied those principles without the beige seriousness of legacy banking.
- 2
Build for regulated surfaces
Disclosure and risk language were designed as first-class components rather than grey small print, which cleared compliance review faster than any previous release.
- 3
Ship a system, not a logo
The identity arrived as tokens, components and documented rules, so the product team could extend it across six surfaces without a design bottleneck.
What changed
The system now covers web, iOS, Android, email, in-product education and investor materials from a single token source.
- Surfaces unified under one system
- 6
- Design review cycle
- 60% faster
- Compliance sign-off
- 1 pass
