# Putting design back into regulatory technology

Source: https://jonleverrier.com/case-study/vaiie-product-branding
Client: Vaiie
Role: Logo Design, 0 to 1 Design, UX Design, Design Systems, Support
Year: 2022
Sectors: RegTech, Startup

Vaiie, then owned by Jersey Post with the Government of Jersey behind it, asked me to brand a suite of regulatory technology products.

Each product needed its own sub-brand, distinct enough to be marketed on its own. Together they still had to read as one company, and the system had to stretch as new products arrived.

## At a glance

- A brand system that ran for five years across the whole product suite
- It lasted through a management buyout
- It stood apart from a sector of near-identical names and marks

## The problem

RegTech looked like RegTech: spinning globes, sci-fi glass panels, and a crowd of similar names. Anything Vaiie launched would land among them.

The sector also treated compliance as a burden for the COO. It can be a competitive advantage instead, giving customers a better experience while keeping the business on top of its regulatory obligations.

On top of that, the brief called for one sub-brand per product. Each needed enough difference to be worth having and enough consistency to still be Vaiie.

## The solution

### 1. Design against the sector

No globes, no glass panels and very little photography. I used illustration instead, with bold shapes and high-contrast colour, kept simple where competitors went for complexity.

### 2. A device from the name

"Vaiie" comes from the Jersey French word for "to see". That gave the system its central device: an iris, with the Vaiie V's on one side and a window into the product on the other.

### 3. One family, many products

The V's stay the same across the suite, and the window changes. Each product gets its own identity without leaving the family.

### 4. A pattern language

Broken apart and tiled, the windows form a mesh. The mesh runs through the brand and carries the idea of protection, so the logos never have to.

## Outcomes

- A brand system that ran for five years across the whole product suite
- It lasted through a management buyout
- It stood apart from a sector of near-identical names and marks

The branding gave Vaiie something recognisable in a sector where most brands aren't. It ran for five years across the suite and through a management buyout.

It was retired when the product range was consolidated, because once there were fewer products, separate sub-brands no longer earned their keep.

> Jon branded our entire suite of regulatory technology tools that sit at the heart of the business. He brought a real moment of clarity during a period of complexity - from brand identity and product design through to working prototypes, and from managing agencies to working directly with clients, he made it all look effortless.
>
> — Lee Bosio, CEO, Vaiie