I partnered with Zircon, a startup in the Solana ecosystem, to design their new learning platform. Their goal is to make learning the skills needed to build on the Solana blockchain more accessible.
This project included a complete rebrand, a new marketing website, and the ground-up design of their new learning platform. I was responsible for all of the design work, including the logo, branding, and UI/UX design of the platform. We began with the brand exploration below.
When thinking about the Zircon brand, I wanted to explore the essence of creating something new, of exploring and learning, of charting new paths. With these precepts in mind, I embarked on designing three unique identities to present to the founder.
The first I nicknamed "Laboratory". The “Laboratory” mark resembles both a Z and the swirling of a beaker. Through Zircon, users enter its laboratory to grow in Solana and its surrounding ecosystem. This brand brings the overall purpose of Zircon into visual form..
The second identity takes on a rounded look that is modern and joyful. The “Progress!” mark is lean and invokes a feeling of progression, movement, and advancement forward. This concept is integral within the Zircon platform. The mark also takes the shape of a Z, reaffirming the overall identifiability of the Zircon brand.
Lastly, the “Wayfinder” mark resembles a compass that symbolizes how Zircon leads its users through the Solana ecosystem and guides them along their path. Zircon is the gateway and north star for those who want to develop in the Solana ecosystem. The “Wayfinder” mark and identity reflects this core truth.
Along with presenting the three brand options to Zircon's founder, I paired them with a landing page. Each are similar, but differ uniquely to adopt the respective brand identity.
In the "Laboratory" page, I took the pink aesthetic and expanded upon it, crafting a full page around the identity. Along with the copy the founder requested, I added in a variety of elements that further emphasize the forward thinking, blockchain based company. The three graphics floating at the bottom half of the screen each highlight a unique part of Zircon and gives prospective users a glimpse into what they offer.
The first covers the instructional content that Zircon covers when learning Solana development. The second represents the imbedded code editor Zircon offers, and the third is the leaderboard of top learners. Each of these elements will be shown in greater detail in the learning platform section below.
The “Progress!” landing page is rounded in nature and takes on a vibrant blue as the primary color. It adopts the Libre Franklin typeface this identity uses.
Lastly, this version holds the "Wayfinder" brand with a deep purple.
After presenting the three brand options and their accompaning marketing page, Zircon's founder selected the "Laboratory" pair. Now that the brand has been confirmed, I moved onwards towards crafting the learning platform.
The Zircon learning platform has three core sections: Challenges, Learn, and Sandbox. I was tasked to design each with my own interpretation of the identity and company, as this is a recently funded startup with great room for exploration.
First, the Challenges view. The founder had a clear idea of the type of content they wanted to display here. I took their ideas and wrapped them into the brand we just crafted, presenting the page above. An aspect of the Challenges view I particularly like is the Top Builders section. As people join Zircon and begin learning, they will begin to accumulate XP. The side panel on the right highlights the top ten. I think it adds a fun competitive edge to learning and could be expanded in a variety of ways in the future.
Second is the Learn view, where all the educational content can be found. The content here is broken up by difficulty, with abstract shapes as placeholder items until the founder decides how they want to present the course content. Below the three course tenets are additional resources published by Solana that students can access.
Lastly, the Sandbox is a space for learners to explore the programming knowledge they have been pursuing and try different ideas directly in their browser through the integrated IDE. They can save their code as "Snippets" and come back to them later. I could see a future scenario where learners can publish their Snippets to the community and gain feedback not only on their code but contribute to others' too.
A primary pillar for me, throughout this project, was cohesion among every aspect of the Zircon experience. I believe, as you use and interact with Zircon, whether through social media or their platform, it should feel like an extension of one another. Nothing abrupt. I believe we accomplished this here, and I look forward to seeing the many people who will benefit from Zircon's learning initiatives.
If you would like to discuss this project or anything else, don't hesitate to reach out.
