dYdX exchange
Category: Branding
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Identity creation
dYdX exchange Identity Design
Background
dYdX is a decentralized exchange that supports perpetual trading. Running on smart contracts using the Ethereum blockchain, it allows users to trade with no intermediaries. Additionally, to significantly scale trading, dYdX has partnered with StarkWare to build a Layer 2 protocol for cross-margined perpetuals, based on StarkWare’s StarkEx scalability engine and dYdX’s Perpetual smart contracts. Basically, what this means for the end-user are much lower gas costs, trading fees and minimum trade sizes.
Challenge
To create an identity for dYdX exchange.
Brief
To create an identity for dYdX exchange that stands out from other blockchain-related service providers, based off the function of derivatives. For the brand to have presence, but remain extremely legible and reduce complexity.
Solution
Any curve, when observed in enough detail, presents as linear. The dYdX brand represents one singular core message – to simplify. Their protocol exists to empower traders through complex-made-simple tooling built on open infrastructure. Therefore, the combination of 3 aspects of the dy/dx formula is the solution.
Logo process
#01 Colour and linear ‘slash’ exploration.
#02 Combination to form a colour.
#03 Combined and simplified to a single ‘slash’.
#04 Creating ‘X’ with slash design.
#05 ‘Y’ derived from the ‘X’.
#06 A combination of both.
Colours
The purple of X paired with the green of Y brings us to the derived blue.
Logo
dYdX, with the split.
Prototyping the logomark.
Iconography
A visual device drawn from a curve, tying back to the concept of derivatives.
Visualisation
*The received brief was limited to ideating brand concepts along with executional ideas, as presented above. Upon delivery of the deck, the job was handed over and a separate entity was brought in to refine, expand and roll out the dYdX brand to what it is now.