R3 & CORDA
A Cinderella story in blockchain
R3 is an enterprise software firm pioneering digital industry transformation, and a Cinderella story in the blockchain world. A few short years and a powerful platform later, the company became an industry platform leader for major financial institutions, built on its Corda blockchain technology. Ruckus was engaged for brand identity and website development across the company's two digital homes, r3.com and corda.net.
One brand, two audiences, no clarity
As Corda matured into one of the world's most advanced blockchain platforms, the company hit a branding problem in two parts. First, a lack of clarity: the enterprise business and the open-source technology spoke to two distinct audiences and were competing for the spotlight. Second, a lack of voice: with the open-source platform starting to consume the brand, R3 was struggling to find its own.
Two sites, one brand system
Ruckus delivered a new brand hierarchy through the creative overhaul of two website properties, the enterprise home at r3.com and the open-source technology support at corda.net. The positioning drew a clean line. Corda is the open-source platform for developers, with support and community around it. R3 is the enterprise platform built on Corda, onboarding enterprise clients. The two sites share the same brand elements, photography, iconography, and animation style, while the messaging targets different audiences.
Architecture first, then the details
Ruckus led the client teams through a detailed discovery and planning phase to determine site-specific functionality and content requirements, from learning about Corda in different verticals and finding documentation to downloading GitHub code, requesting training, and browsing career opportunities. Low-fidelity wireframes structured the information architecture of both platforms to complement each other, so each site could serve its own users while the general construction stayed familiar across both.
High-fidelity designs carried shared coloration and typography across both platforms. Ruckus managed a video and photo shoot at R3's offices to bring the firm and its people to the forefront of the branding, humanizing the brand and bridging the gap between R3 and Corda, then designed every element of the sites, icons to animations, so the graphics pattern stayed unique and cohesive throughout.
Well received, right away
The new brand system creates a clear hierarchy between the enterprise and the platform, allowing each to speak to its distinct audience while the same identity runs across both websites for one cohesive experience. The branding and web platforms launched by Ruckus were immediately well received by R3's institutional partners in the financial sector, a key measure of success.
