Design branding for Pakistan’s first completely digital bank that both, stands out from and synergises with the current banking landscape of Pakistan
At the core of Dbank’s vision lies the belief that financial services should be universally accessible, transcending geographical and socio-economic boundaries. Leveraging cutting-edge digital technologies, they adeptly bridge the gaps that often separate individuals from traditional banking systems, providing an effortlessly secure and inclusive banking experience.
The first step in the process was to define the brand with an internal brainstorming exercise. We got together with key stakeholders and asked them to describe what the Dbank brand means according to their vision. We shortlisted a few descriptors that felt appropriate to Dbank’s vision and personality:
I analysed existing brands in the Pakistani banking and fintech space to get a sense of the competition. I found most logos were still following outdated trends with complex marks and safe colors. A few had simple, scalable, and memorable marks that stood out like HBL, SadaPay, and EasyPaisa.
Sketching is vey important to my brainstorming process. My focus is on quantity so I come up with as many ideas as possible, bad or good. I try out a bunch of concepts and ideas and handpick the best ones later.
I explore each aspect of the brand separately. The lettermark explorations were done in black and white, and then I explored color separately. This helps take each decision without bias.
In this particular project, despite almost 200 ideas being brainstormed and the top three being presented to the client, I had to go back to the drawing board and come up with more options based on feedback. The current logos did not resonate with the client and I brainstormed more abstract marks.
Once we were more confident with our logo option and color option shortlist, I built stylescapes to get a sense of what the branding will look like and align on that vision with the client.
Following this process and across in-depth conversations with the client, I finalized the following look and feel of the brand. The logo was a simple and dynamic word mark that visually connected to the parent company. The sharp Dbank blue color was chosen to stand out among safer colors currently being used in the banking landscape.
Once the basic brand elements were finalised, I designed a brand manual, social media posts, print and digital collateral as well as a landing page. With a rigorous process, I ensured that the final product was timeless, reflected the vision of the client, and appealed to their target audience.
The company raised $17 million in funding, transforming this brand into a significant player in the Pakistani Fintech market, underscoring the company’s potential and significantly enhancing its credibility.
