Northzone by Ragged Edge

 

Northzone by Ragged Edge


Northzone is an early stage venture capital fund with the insight necessary to cut through the hype of funding and recognise strong teams doing good work. From their offices in London, Stockholm and New York they partner with founders at Seed, Series A and Series B stage across Europe and America. London-based Ragged Edge worked with Northzone to create a brand identity that would put founders before figures, and position boutique venture as the aspirational choice. Based around truth over hype and character over the size of an investment opportunity, Ragged Edge developed a visual language that evokes that of the editorial. This manifests itself through a bold logotype/masthead, dynamic layouts informed by stories, and an intelligible tone of voice. This links mobile and desktop digital experiences and printed surfaces such as business cards, newsprint, posters, book and invitations.


“The industry is defined by bravado. Everyone backs game changers, and everyone spots outliers. Northzone’s experience means they cut through the hype and get to the truth about the team. They build their relationships from this common ground. So we placed strength of character, not just size of opportunity, at the heart of their brand.” – Ragged Edge.

The logotype is beautifully crafted. It holds up well small, and more importantly, large as a masthead in both digital and printed contexts. It is immediate, evokes and alludes to heritage press, and by extension truth, and in its placement, perfectly sets up the editorial visual language that holds together the content that follows and a variety of touchpoints.


Each surface is a space to tell a story. The business cards are no different, with General Partner Paul Murphy’s offering a short background. Marrs Sans Condensed, justified text, black ink and white board and the two sides presented as if it was a folded newspaper is a thoughtful editorial-inspired detail. This could have become a gimmick if it were not for the restraint and range that is present throughout the brand identity programme.


Where the business card plays with something closer to a newspaper editorial, the book moves further towards an independent fashion magazine in its colour, transparent sleeve and pocket full of colour postcards of brands Northzone have worked with. It appears as a credible backdrop to some compelling success stories, without being dwarfed by big brand names, the masthead logotype at the top, holds things together.


https://mrbilit.com/mag/


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