Tilt is founded by two co-founders from their belief that attending a college could be the best opportunity for anyone, especially those under-resourced students, to develop the capabilities to be economically and socially mobile.
The founder was preparing for upcoming pitch competition, looking for their first seed investment. She sent me her hand-drawn requirements, and there were function-oriented wireframes to show what functions the service has. However, I thought about delivering the value of this service beyond its operations.
The app targets high school seniors aspiring for college but facing financial constraints. I reflected on my own experience of excitement and anxiety, and the desire to choose a dream school regardless of economic factors. I wanted the app to emphasize the thrill of pursuing dreams over financial worries. So, I used the key phrase "Christina, catch your dream!" and chose pastel tones for a brighter interface.
I made this app's tone of voice kind and cheerful to reflect the co-founders’ philosophy. While I was working with them on the branding, they said they wanted to be a big sister to her students, and I believe that reflecting such tone and manner of voice is as important as showing the service’s functionality even at the mockup stage.
I start visual identity works with comprehensive research on the product and the client. Since this was a new service/company, I had several sessions of in-depth interviews with the co-founders to understand why they decided to start this business, how they are analyzing the problem, and their solutions. Such discussion led to the finding of below three key considerations:
I created visual metaphors based on the client's key concepts and values for the project. Working with the Tilt team, I identified four strong metaphors: ladder, step, box, and the letter T.
