Plenty
Everyone in San Francisco has to start at least one company
Project Description
In 2019, I left my role as Art Director for Palo Alto Networks to pursue my own startup. My co-founder and I—having each spent long stretches of our careers freelancing—aimed to build a cash flow tracking and budget forecasting app, designed to provide freelancers with insight and peace of mind. I assumed responsibility for every aspect of front-end design, brand identity, marketing strategy, and advertising. As we courted seed funding it became apparent that each of these initiatives would need to take place simultaneously in order to rapidly acquire users and demonstrate traction.
YEAR
2020
ROLE
Co-Founder VP of Creative
EXPERTISE
Branding Audience Research Experience Design Advertising
Deliverables
Brand Strategy & Identity End-to-End Product UX & Visual Design Marketing Landing Page Ad Campaign
Project Description
In 2019, I left my role as Art Director for Palo Alto Networks to pursue my own startup. My co-founder and I—having each spent long stretches of our careers freelancing—aimed to build a cash flow tracking and budget forecasting app, designed to provide freelancers with insight and peace of mind. I assumed responsibility for every aspect of front-end design, brand identity, marketing strategy, and advertising. As we courted seed funding it became apparent that each of these initiatives would need to take place simultaneously in order to rapidly acquire users and demonstrate traction.
YEAR
2020
ROLE
Co-Founder VP of Creative
EXPERTISE
Branding Audience Research Experience Design Advertising
Deliverables
Brand Strategy & Identity End-to-End Product UX & Visual Design Marketing Landing Page Ad Campaign
Project Description
In 2019, I left my role as Art Director for Palo Alto Networks to pursue my own startup. My co-founder and I—having each spent long stretches of our careers freelancing—aimed to build a cash flow tracking and budget forecasting app, designed to provide freelancers with insight and peace of mind. I assumed responsibility for every aspect of front-end design, brand identity, marketing strategy, and advertising. As we courted seed funding it became apparent that each of these initiatives would need to take place simultaneously in order to rapidly acquire users and demonstrate traction.
YEAR
2020
ROLE
Co-Founder VP of Creative
EXPERTISE
Branding Audience Research Experience Design Advertising
Deliverables
Brand Strategy & Identity End-to-End Product UX & Visual Design Marketing Landing Page Ad Campaign
Brand Strategy
Pinpointing the Target Audience
We believed the most critical component of our communication strategy was an intimate familiarity with the target audience. Understanding who was most likely to engage with our product, as well as their behaviors, motivations, and pain points, were all essential to crafting a message and visual identity with emotional resonance and staying power. Conducting dozens of interviews revealed that the most widely-held sentiments were: 1. Frustration managing variable income on a 30 day cycle 2. The current financial system and financial tools do not cater to their needs 3. Simply working requires too much extra "work" just to manage business operations
Brand Strategy
Pinpointing the Target Audience
We believed the most critical component of our communication strategy was an intimate familiarity with the target audience. Understanding who was most likely to engage with our product, as well as their behaviors, motivations, and pain points, were all essential to crafting a message and visual identity with emotional resonance and staying power. Conducting dozens of interviews revealed that the most widely-held sentiments were: 1. Frustration managing variable income on a 30 day cycle 2. The current financial system and financial tools do not cater to their needs 3. Simply working requires too much extra "work" just to manage business operations
Brand Strategy
Pinpointing the Target Audience
We believed the most critical component of our communication strategy was an intimate familiarity with the target audience. Understanding who was most likely to engage with our product, as well as their behaviors, motivations, and pain points, were all essential to crafting a message and visual identity with emotional resonance and staying power. Conducting dozens of interviews revealed that the most widely-held sentiments were: 1. Frustration managing variable income on a 30 day cycle 2. The current financial system and financial tools do not cater to their needs 3. Simply working requires too much extra "work" just to manage business operations
Brand Strategy
Core Brand Elements
Given the tight-knit and heavily engaged online freelancer community, it was clear that the brand needed to serve as a rally flag; an emblem for freelancer quality of life, around which community could be built. These objectives guided our Brand Pillars—the blueprint to which all expressions of the brand needed to align. I crafted the brand to be distinctly unlike what is typically associated with the fin-tech space, in order to distance Plenty from the other tools that had failed to serve our audience.
Brand Strategy
Core Brand Elements
Given the tight-knit and heavily engaged online freelancer community, it was clear that the brand needed to serve as a rally flag; an emblem for freelancer quality of life, around which community could be built. These objectives guided our Brand Pillars—the blueprint to which all expressions of the brand needed to align. I crafted the brand to be distinctly unlike what is typically associated with the fin-tech space, in order to distance Plenty from the other tools that had failed to serve our audience.
Brand Strategy
Core Brand Elements
Given the tight-knit and heavily engaged online freelancer community, it was clear that the brand needed to serve as a rally flag; an emblem for freelancer quality of life, around which community could be built. These objectives guided our Brand Pillars—the blueprint to which all expressions of the brand needed to align. I crafted the brand to be distinctly unlike what is typically associated with the fin-tech space, in order to distance Plenty from the other tools that had failed to serve our audience.
UX Strategy & Design
Product Architecture & Design Process
Our audience research revealed that most freelancers who used budgeting apps felt they were saturated in unnecessary analysis (e.g. "you spent $213 more on Thai food compared to last month"). We chose to focus on quality of insight over volume of information, with the home screen prominently displaying a single real-time figure. We named that figure The Pocket, and it shows how much is safe to spend at any given moment, while ensuring there is enough remaining budget to cover expenses.
UX Strategy & Design
Product Architecture & Design Process
Our audience research revealed that most freelancers who used budgeting apps felt they were saturated in unnecessary analysis (e.g. "you spent $213 more on Thai food compared to last month"). We chose to focus on quality of insight over volume of information, with the home screen prominently displaying a single real-time figure. We named that figure The Pocket, and it shows how much is safe to spend at any given moment, while ensuring there is enough remaining budget to cover expenses.
UX Strategy & Design
Product Architecture & Design Process
Our audience research revealed that most freelancers who used budgeting apps felt they were saturated in unnecessary analysis (e.g. "you spent $213 more on Thai food compared to last month"). We chose to focus on quality of insight over volume of information, with the home screen prominently displaying a single real-time figure. We named that figure The Pocket, and it shows how much is safe to spend at any given moment, while ensuring there is enough remaining budget to cover expenses.
Visual Design
Primary Interface
Visual Design
Primary Interface
Visual Design
Primary Interface
Visual Design
Budget Tracking and Forecasting
Visual Design
Budget Tracking and Forecasting
Visual Design
Budget Tracking and Forecasting
Visual Design
User Onboarding Flow
Visual Design
User Onboarding Flow
Visual Design
User Onboarding Flow
Visual Design
Landing Page Evolution
Visual Design
Landing Page Evolution
Visual Design
Landing Page Evolution
Marketing Strategy
Digital Ad Campaign
Our research made it clear that platforms like Quora and Reddit were high-impact, high-engagement arenas for the broader freelancer community, but specifically for the younger, early-career segment we were targeting. Being wholly unknown to our target audience made the emotional resonance of our campaign creative all the more critical. Thus, we went for simple, copy-driven ads that honed in on the emotional pain points of our audience, while maintaining a casual, approachable, and occasionally irreverent tone.
Marketing Strategy
Digital Ad Campaign
Our research made it clear that platforms like Quora and Reddit were high-impact, high-engagement arenas for the broader freelancer community, but specifically for the younger, early-career segment we were targeting. Being wholly unknown to our target audience made the emotional resonance of our campaign creative all the more critical. Thus, we went for simple, copy-driven ads that honed in on the emotional pain points of our audience, while maintaining a casual, approachable, and occasionally irreverent tone.
Marketing Strategy
Digital Ad Campaign
Our research made it clear that platforms like Quora and Reddit were high-impact, high-engagement arenas for the broader freelancer community, but specifically for the younger, early-career segment we were targeting. Being wholly unknown to our target audience made the emotional resonance of our campaign creative all the more critical. Thus, we went for simple, copy-driven ads that honed in on the emotional pain points of our audience, while maintaining a casual, approachable, and occasionally irreverent tone.
Brand Execution
Campaign Metrics
Brand Execution
Campaign Metrics
Brand Execution
Campaign Metrics
Conversion Rate
12.5%
5.25% Above Industry Average
Customer Acquisition Cost
$4.10
75% Below Largest Competitor
