Raremarq Brand Identity

Nerd Crawler's Original Brand Identity

The Problem

The original brand lacked visual consistency and didn't reflect the warmth or premium feel we wanted for the brand. My goal was to lead the rebranding of the platform to better align with our community's values and support future scalability as our current design was built on whatever we had to get the product live.

Users described it as “bland” and “uninspiring,” which limited brand trust and failed to convey the “premium” feeling of one-of-one products we had on the platforms. Raremarq had artists like Frank Cho & Artgerm which are some of the top comic artists in the space. The sparse color use and inconsistent visual hierarchy made very it difficult to distinguish between content types or have a brand identity.

I provided feedback to the external studio shaping the new brand direction. I then lead the full rollout across our platform. My work focused on translating a new visual identity into a flexible, scalable product experience that aligned with both investor expectations and our users.

Mood Board Exploration

We started by crafting three types of mood boards focusing on community, artistic value, and premium.

Concept #1 Observations

Strengths

• The simple, bold, and casual tone allows for a more conversational design language that can develop over time.
• A clean “neubrutalist” style can be really eyecatching and memorable. Just need to be careful to not over do it.
• Works nicely when paired with a few key unique textures to make it our own. And breaks up the solid walls of color.

Concerns

• Overly expressive illustration and characters. These elements can start to lock the brand in to a top down identity.
• It can be super subjective on taste as the brand expands audiences over time.
• Can get very expensive and time consuming to maintain.

Concept #2 Observations

Strengths

• The hand written scribble style is very human and authentic, communicating warmth and personal touch.
• Creates a sense of intimacy and approachability that could resonate with creative communities.
• The organic, imperfect aesthetic feels genuine and could differentiate from more polished competitors.

Concerns

• The hand written scribble style while very human, also communicates a roughness of seeing Work in Progress and the collaborative process. But not the well crafted and considered final work.
• This is why we see this style with a lot of productivity SaaS platforms. Maybe not an evocation we want people to have.
• Feels a little too “scrapbooky” feel for Nerd Crawler, we want a balance between more artsy but, modern multimedia.

Concept #3 Observations

Strengths

• Much more crafted, elevated, and considered of a look and feel. High risk but high reward. Feels "premium"
• This approach could feel much more opinionated about what good design is. You would feel Raremarq itself, as a brand, has an expectation on the level of quality they are curating.
• Creates a premium, gallery-like atmosphere that elevates the art and collectibles being showcased.

Concerns

• Where concept 1's more minimal brand vibe allows the dialogue between creator and fan to be the focus, this approach might overshadow user content.
• Could feel intimidating or exclusive to casual users or emerging artists who don't yet have “gallery-worthy” work.
• Requires consistent high-quality execution across all touchpoints, which can be resource-intensive to maintain.

Concept Iterations

Early explorations focused on translating the new brand direction into scalable interface components and layout systems.

Branding Direction & Timeline

Finalized Concept

The final direction balances warmth, clarity, and scalability — built to grow with the brand and resonate with both users and investors.

New Components

Built a scalable component library to ensure consistency across pages and accelerate future development.

Buttons, Labels & Tags

A comprehensive set of button states, icon buttons, and status labels designed for consistency across the platform.

Icon Library

A custom icon library built to support the new brand identity with consistent visual language and scalable design.

Shadow System

A comprehensive shadow system designed for variety of modules and cards to create depth and visual hierarchy.

Mobile Bottom Navigation

A mobile-optimized bottom navigation system with clear iconography and notification badges for seamless mobile experience.

Top Navigation Bar for Desktop

The primary desktop navigation system featuring search, category browsing, user menus, and contextual dropdowns — designed for clarity and efficient wayfinding.

Takeaways & Results

The rebrand transformed how users perceived and engaged with Raremarq, directly contributing to significant growth in platform adoption and user trust.