Digital Design Digest for Feb, March, and April

<div class="p-lr mb-80"><div class="g-7-15"><div class="transp-bl"></div><p class="h4-style">A (mostly) monthly digest of everything happening in web design and branding for digital products</p></div></div>

<div class="p-lr"><div class="g-7-15"><div class="transp-bl"></div><p class="h2-style">1. CIRCA5000 and going forward by looking backward</p></div></div>

<div class="p-lr mt-24 mb-104"><div class="g-7-15"><div class="transp-bl"></div><p class="h4-style">CIRCA5000 is an investment platform that focuses on businesses that help humanity’s future. Previously known as tickr. 5000 is the year that sets the mindset for the platform’s users. The name itself, CIRCA5000, is like something out of the 80s. This retrofuturistic vibe carries through the symbol and the whole style.</p></div></div>

<img src="https://assets-global.website-files.com/62e119d58c1c3abc0a13d8f9/6324332bfaa2fa54c07f6301_dd-1.webp" loading="lazy" alt="" class="s_image_full mb-104">

<img src="https://assets-global.website-files.com/62e119d58c1c3abc0a13d8f9/6324332b151f6f23222171fa_dd-2.webp" loading="lazy" alt="" class="s_image_full">

<div class="mt-16 mb-104"><p class="text-gr">Made by <a href="https://raggededge.com/work/circa5000/" class="underline">Ragged Edge.</a> </p></div>

<div class="p-lr"><div class="g-7-15"><div class="transp-bl"></div><p class="h2-style">2. Paddle</p></div></div>

<div class="p-lr mt-24 mb-104"><div class="g-7-15"><div class="transp-bl"></div><p class="h4-style">Paddle, a payment infrastructure for SaaS companies, also hits it with retro illustrations. Somewhat reminiscent of 70s sci-fi book covers.</p></div></div>

<img src="https://assets-global.website-files.com/62e119d58c1c3abc0a13d8f9/6324332bbf2fc86b05c9067c_dd-3.webp" loading="lazy" alt="" class="s_image_full mb-104">

<img src="https://assets-global.website-files.com/62e119d58c1c3abc0a13d8f9/6324332d208481f77261bb15_dd-4.webp" loading="lazy" alt="" class="s_image_full mb-104">

<div class="p-lr mb-104"><div class="g-7-15"><div class="transp-bl"></div><p class="h4-style">The style is beautiful, memorable, and looks confident. But does it have anything to do with the product?</p></div></div>

<img src="https://assets-global.website-files.com/62e119d58c1c3abc0a13d8f9/6324332bee8742592631fc3d_dd-5.webp" loading="lazy" alt="" class="s_image_full mb-104">

<img src="https://assets-global.website-files.com/62e119d58c1c3abc0a13d8f9/6324332aa93f609fe37e4bd7_dd-6.webp" loading="lazy" alt="" class="s_image_full mb-104">

<div class="p-lr mb-104"><div class="g-7-15"><div class="transp-bl"></div><p class="h4-style">Important to note that Paddle has a team of illustrators on staff, to keep up the style. That’s great.</p></div></div>

<img src="https://assets-global.website-files.com/62e119d58c1c3abc0a13d8f9/6324332d151f6f8b682171fe_dd-7.webp" loading="lazy" alt="" class="s_image_full">

<div class="mt-16 mb-104"><p class="text-gr">Made by <a href="https://www.butchershop.co/work/paddle/" class="underline">Butchershop</a> </p></div>

<div class="p-lr"><div class="g-7-15"><div class="transp-bl"></div><p class="h2-style">3. Web 3.0 starter pack</p></div></div>

<div class="p-lr mt-24 mb-104"><div class="g-7-15"><div class="transp-bl"></div><p class="h4-style">Stop us if you’ve seen this one before:</p></div></div>

<img src="https://assets-global.website-files.com/62e119d58c1c3abc0a13d8f9/6324332a029fcf33c2da1f7f_dd-8.webp" loading="lazy" alt="" class="s_image_full mb-104">

<div class="p-lr mb-104"><div class="g-7-15"><div class="transp-bl"></div><p class="h4-style">We’ve also used this pic in our recent <a href="https://www.embacy.io/stories/branding-for-crypto-and-web-3-0" class="underline">article on branding for crypto products</a>. This neon is just one subset of retrofuturism, and as we’ve seen earlier, the style can be realized in a number of different ways.</p></div></div>

<div class="p-lr"><div class="g-7-15"><div class="transp-bl"></div><p class="h2-style">4. CloverCities brings back Web 1.0</p></div></div>

<div class="p-lr mt-24 mb-104"><div class="g-7-15"><div class="transp-bl"></div><p class="h4-style">While Web 3.0 websites all look the same, <a href="https://clovercities.com/" class="underline">CloverCities</a> brings it back to Web 1.0, where every website, if nothing else, looked unique.</p></div></div>

<img src="https://assets-global.website-files.com/62e119d58c1c3abc0a13d8f9/6324332b9b718d980ce9004a_dd-9.webp" loading="lazy" alt="" class="s_image_full mb-104">

<div class="p-lr mb-104"><div class="g-7-15"><div class="transp-bl"></div><p class="h4-style">Today’s websites all look the same! We’re bringing back the creativity of the early web with the first no-code solution for Web 1.0 homepages.</p></div></div>

<img src="https://assets-global.website-files.com/62e119d58c1c3abc0a13d8f9/6324332b88eeaa57e9d0c23e_dd-10.webp" loading="lazy" alt="" class="s_image_full mb-104">

<div class="p-lr mb-104"><div class="g-7-15"><div class="transp-bl"></div><p class="h4-style">We’ll see if they have any success, but they sure look bold. And the problem is real.</p></div></div>

<div class="p-lr"><div class="g-7-15"><div class="transp-bl"></div><p class="h2-style">5. Coinbase rounds up</p></div></div>

<div class="p-lr mt-24 mb-104"><div class="g-7-15"><div class="transp-bl"></div><p class="h4-style">The most notable big change from the past three months comes from Coinbase.</p></div></div>

<img src="https://assets-global.website-files.com/62e119d58c1c3abc0a13d8f9/632433281e17d5ede1b6c923_dd-11.webp" loading="lazy" alt="" class="s_image_full mb-104">

<div class="p-lr mb-104"><div class="g-7-15"><div class="transp-bl"></div><p class="h4-style">Not only did the logo get rounder, but it also became the cornerstone of the style:</p></div></div>

<img src="https://assets-global.website-files.com/62e119d58c1c3abc0a13d8f9/6324332a2084812e0161bb12_dd-12.webp" loading="lazy" alt="" class="s_image_full mb-104">

<img src="https://assets-global.website-files.com/62e119d58c1c3abc0a13d8f9/6324332b0859ca7fdfe5c030_dd-13.webp" loading="lazy" alt="" class="s_image_full mb-104">

<div class="p-lr mb-104"><div class="g-7-15"><div class="transp-bl"></div><p class="h4-style">Restrained, clean, assertive. More than enough for a known digital company.</p></div></div>

<div class="p-lr"><div class="g-7-15"><div class="transp-bl"></div><p class="h2-style">5. Coinbase rounds up</p></div></div>

<div class="p-lr mt-24 mb-104"><div class="g-7-15"><div class="transp-bl"></div><p class="h4-style">Doodle’s prime competitor is Google Calendar. That’s quite a David and Goliath situation. But when speaking of design, there are some interesting ideas:</p></div></div>

<img src="https://assets-global.website-files.com/62e119d58c1c3abc0a13d8f9/63243328a18e6b53465bf61a_dd-14.webp" loading="lazy" alt="" class="s_image_full mb-104">

<img src="https://assets-global.website-files.com/62e119d58c1c3abc0a13d8f9/632433299a64bf6c7653b442_dd-15.webp" loading="lazy" alt="" class="s_image_full mb-104">

<div class="p-lr mb-104"><div class="g-7-15"><div class="transp-bl"></div><p class="h4-style">The interface is used in the style, which always strongly connects the product to its positioning.</p></div></div>

<img src="https://assets-global.website-files.com/62e119d58c1c3abc0a13d8f9/6324332acd26124b70928244_dd-16.webp" loading="lazy" alt="" class="s_image_full mb-104">

<div class="p-lr"><div class="g-7-15"><div class="transp-bl"></div><p class="h2-style">7. Spline makes it seem easy</p></div></div>

<div class="p-lr mt-24 mb-104"><div class="g-7-15"><div class="transp-bl"></div><p class="h4-style">Most of the 3D tools look rather complicated. <a href="https://spline.design/" class="underline">Spline</a> makes it a lot more accessible, something of Figma-but-for-3D. Now it seems that a product like this was a matter of time.</p></div></div>

<img src="https://assets-global.website-files.com/62e119d58c1c3abc0a13d8f9/6324332afaa2fa21c77f62ad_dd-17.webp" loading="lazy" alt="" class="s_image_full mb-104">

<img src="https://assets-global.website-files.com/62e119d58c1c3abc0a13d8f9/63243329b1f2166c6cf12fd4_dd-18.webp" loading="lazy" alt="" class="s_image_full mb-104">

<div class="p-lr mb-104"><div class="g-7-15"><div class="transp-bl"></div><p class="h4-style">And <a href="https://instagram.com/splinetool" class="underline">their Instagram</a> is quite pleasant as well:</p></div></div>

<img src="https://assets-global.website-files.com/62e119d58c1c3abc0a13d8f9/6324332ac415e15848cd6f6c_dd-19.webp" loading="lazy" alt="" class="s_image_full mb-104">

<div class="p-lr"><div class="g-7-15"><div class="transp-bl"></div><p class="h2-style">8. Starlight — crypto wallet for companies</p></div></div>

<div class="p-lr mt-24 mb-104"><div class="g-7-15"><div class="transp-bl"></div><p class="h4-style">Crypto quickly diffuses innovations, so you could assume that we’ll see a few <a href="https://starlight.money/" class="underline">products like this</a>. So that the companies could easily manage their crypto assets.</p></div></div>

<img src="https://assets-global.website-files.com/62e119d58c1c3abc0a13d8f9/63243329c454700490d3c99a_dd-20.webp" loading="lazy" alt="" class="s_image_full mb-104">

<div class="p-lr mb-104"><div class="g-7-15"><div class="transp-bl"></div><p class="h4-style">We’ve recently had an in-house poll. 75% of our employees would accept taking their pay in USDT, and more than a third would prefer it to fiat currency. Surely we’re not the only company like this, and so eventually crypto is rather likely to be widespread and convenient to use.</p></div></div>

<img src="https://assets-global.website-files.com/62e119d58c1c3abc0a13d8f9/63243329029fcf9d1bda1f7e_dd-21.webp" loading="lazy" alt="" class="s_image_full mb-104">

<div class="p-lr"><div class="g-7-15"><div class="transp-bl"></div><p class="h2-style">9. Notion updated their main page</p></div></div>

<div class="p-lr mt-24 mb-104"><div class="g-7-15"><div class="transp-bl"></div><p class="h4-style">Now it is more focused on showing the UI:</p></div></div>

<img src="https://assets-global.website-files.com/62e119d58c1c3abc0a13d8f9/632433285346e4689e75a23d_dd-22.webp" loading="lazy" alt="" class="s_image_full mb-104">

<img src="https://assets-global.website-files.com/62e119d58c1c3abc0a13d8f9/6324332a076c9a2480273d3c_dd-23.webp" loading="lazy" alt="" class="s_image_full mb-104">

<div class="p-lr mb-104"><div class="g-7-15"><div class="transp-bl"></div><p class="h4-style">The tags change up, and as users of both Notion and Slack, we’ve found this one relatable:</p></div></div>

<img src="https://assets-global.website-files.com/62e119d58c1c3abc0a13d8f9/632433299a64bf1b7a53b443_dd-24.webp" loading="lazy" alt="" class="s_image_full mb-104">

<div class="p-lr"><div class="g-7-15"><div class="transp-bl"></div><p class="h2-style">10. Seen</p></div></div>

<img src="https://assets-global.website-files.com/62e119d58c1c3abc0a13d8f9/6324332d5b8542aab834504c_dd-25.webp" loading="lazy" alt="" class="s_image_full mt-104 mb-104">

<div class="p-lr mb-104"><div class="g-7-15"><div class="transp-bl"></div><p class="h4-style">And again we end the digest with our own project. Recently made <a href="https://www.behance.net/gallery/137519715/Seen-Brand-Identity-Website" class="underline">brand identity and website</a> for Seen, a video-marketing product from Stockholm:</p></div></div>

<img src="https://assets-global.website-files.com/62e119d58c1c3abc0a13d8f9/6324332d59df1092de4b6492_dd-26.webp" loading="lazy" alt="" class="s_image_full mb-104">

<img src="https://assets-global.website-files.com/62e119d58c1c3abc0a13d8f9/6324332a8fb1dc645397b556_dd-27.webp" loading="lazy" alt="" class="s_image_full mb-104">

<img src="https://assets-global.website-files.com/62e119d58c1c3abc0a13d8f9/6324332a8fb1dc1e4397b557_dd-28.webp" loading="lazy" alt="" class="s_image_full mb-104">

<div class="p-lr"><div class="g-7-15"><div class="transp-bl"></div><p class="h4-style">We even got applause during the final presentation! And that’s it for today’s digest. Our scheduling issues seem to be resolved at the moment, so we’re now likely to get back to monthly digests. Probably.</p></div></div>